


Replica Names

by Nachtnebel



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: And that they don't have a Master Splinter, But with a happy ending, Cody is a great big brother, Crimes & Criminals, Darius Dun is an asshole, Dark Turtles deserve more love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, It all started with me wondering what names they should have, Lots of drama, Misunderstandings, My name choices are probably terrible, Originial Turtles and Splinter appear too, Trust Issues, bad language, but not until chapter 21, poor babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2019-10-21 16:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 52,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17646458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nachtnebel/pseuds/Nachtnebel
Summary: They were just replications. They had no names. They had no origins. They had no worth. Not anymore. Once they maybe had a meaning to live, but it all vanished with them. With those pesky Turtles. Their “originals” and their … what did they call him? Father?After the Turtles returned into their time along with Serling, Darius had no reason for his abominations of Turtle Clones to keep and decided to get rid of the most useless, not knowing how immense the chain reaction he caused would be.After all, they had been created just for one task and would never be able to complete it now. So if literally your only purpose of existence gets taken away from you, what is left to keep living for? Can they ever learn to be a real family? Or is all hope lost?“Because we have something they don’t: A real reason to fight for” - Leonardo [Season 6; Episode 19]





	1. Slavery

**Author's Note:**

> This was just an idea I came up with after rewatching some episodes of the fast forward series recently. And since my Christmas mood toned down a little I thought this might be a good story to not end up in an art blockade.  
> Although the chapters won't be very long and the topic is nothing special or new I hope you enjoy it~  
> Fun Fact: I was listening to Wild Hearts can't be broken by P!nk nonstop while writing the prologue ... I know, nobody asked and it doesn't fit but I yeah, here you go :D

He had no name. Not a real one. Neither of them did. It was not necessary since they were nothing more than biological weapons made of the DNA of their foes. Created for just this one mission. Destroying the Turtles. But oh man had they failed. To be frank, he wasn’t really surprised it turned out that way. He may be a lunatic but he wasn’t THAT naïve. In fact he knew where this was going. When they found out that the Turtles left this time and their creator Sh'Okanabo was gone for good, it wasn’t really difficult to count one and one together. Darius wanted his nephew dead. And without his protectors he was an easy target. So it was no surprise that he planned a new ambush. But he had no money for the technology nor the contacts he used to since that Cody boy worked together with the Peace Keepers now. O’Neil Tech was now out of reach and so was the sanity of that fat old man, as the blue big brother described. He seems to regret saving that idiot back then. They just couldn’t attack him, that didn’t include that they had to follow this guy and take orders. If it wasn’t for the food.  
The ‘Dark Turtles’ were criminals. Outcasts. They would never be able to live among the other species above, so they hid in the old lairs of their counterparts that maybe looked far more better 100 years ago.  
  
“Hey, you! Get over there to the others!” some cloaked person yelled at him with a taserweapon in his hands. Those sticks really hurt when they hit you and leaved you more than paralyzed. Especially that Jammerhead was a pain in the ass since he seemed to like how it affected him, as if he gained some satisfaction out of this while murmuring something about “the” Turtles.  
He remembered them. Well, they were related in some sick way. Although he didn’t like his original. He really didn’t! And he was oh so glad they were gone! Just without them, they had no job to do and now … Well, Darius Dun that bastard had sold him to these Street Phantom guys. The original plan Darius told him was that he wanted to get the money and let the others free him. It was odd that Darius only told him about it and of course he asked why it had to be exactly him and that fat guy only babbled some gibberish he couldn’t understand. Something about lucrative business and that he cannot afford to give his best horses away and that the less valuable was the perfect bait bla bla …  
  
It all made sense now. After seeing that fucker with a shit eating grin right in the crowd at the auction, while he waited to be freed after being ‘sold’ there was no sign of his brothers. And Darius didn’t show up either after the show. So he came to the conclusion that they simply wanted to get rid of him. He was not the technician, the strategic nor was he as strong as the other one. He was just … here now. At first he was so angry and mad, he was fighting for escape, but whenever he wanted to leash out for those men they just became untouchable and hurt him with these electrocution thingies. After several days, his anger lulled down. Mostly because he was so hungry. And thirsty. And tired. And didn’t know what to do else. He wasn’t the smart one after all.  
For a while now he felt … sad. No reason to laugh anymore. No giggling. No fun. If he wasn’t good for anything, if he hadn’t any reason to exist anymore … why would he even try keep fighting? Just what for?  
  
  
_“If someone just showed you that there’s another way and that you don’t have to be the monsters they wanted to create, then maybe you guys could become a real family.”_  
  
“Shut up, stupid comic freak” He grunted and slithered with his two foot long tongue, which was really uncomfortable since his dry mouth only felt more withered. It felt like a distant memory when they met each other. It was like every morning. His brothers didn’t really liked going out while the sun was still up, something because of their creator. So they usually hung out at the dark and cold lair. Only if there was a mission or some special event they would go up. For him it was the best time actually because there was a lot of food to scavenge from containers that he could hoard. In a group full of bigger and stronger clone mutants he had to rely on his mischief … if you could call it that. He mostly just hid his stuff. Only the tough and best got everything. At least till their leader invented this “sharing” thing. But it wasn’t enough. Also he craved more than just junk. Maybe it was because of his original, but every time he saw some advertisement or smelled some real food he just drooled and desperately wanted to taste some real pizza or other restaurant food.  
  
From time to time on his private trips to the surface on food hunt he would lurk behind restaurants and wait for some fresh meals to come by. He actually robbed a delivery guy once. He was so damn hungry, he nearly ate the wrapping of the burritos … okay, he totally did but it still tasted good. And was oh so addicting that he wanted more. But who could blame him? It already was unfair that their leader had this really good and nice food from the Turtles. They may be enemies but the cooking was hella good. At least everything was better than what they had.  
So one day, right before sunset, he got up early to look for something to eat. It was about two days after the failed mission when they had their Leader back. Normally he wouldn’t really care but … his ‘Leonardo’ was still not in a good shape and hurting him left a kinda bad feeling in his gut. Plus that sharing still made him feel even more … what was that word? Gully? Whatever, he shouldn’t be able to feel that anyway, so he tried to ignore it. But even the day after their leader kept making sure everyone got equal portions of food. Smart guy was also curious and Red distrusted this strange behavior.  
Now to get back to the story, he went to the surface, looking for some pancakes, which he heard his older brother talking about. But he found none so instead went to get some pizza – no matter how because … reasons. He just felt the need to. Well that Leo said he should try it sometime and he really was wondering what might happen ... that means, if he **wanted** to share.  
  
And then he met HIM. That Michelangelo he had nothing in common. He hated comics! And that certainly definitely WASN’T because he had little mayor trouble with reading and writing! He had this guy’s persona but not his memories. Maybe a few but they were fogged like dark shadows ruining his sweet dreams at day.  
He didn’t even know how that dude found him, he just hopped down that alley stating _“Heh, I knew something stinky was ruining that delicious smell of my beloved pizza!”_ and grabbed his Nunchakus, while his counterpart cursed himself for not having his own with him. They were just too large and unhandy for food hunting.  
  
_“Alright, dark me! Bring it on!” Mikey yelled and struck a pose, waiting for him to attack. But the other just didn’t felt the need to do the same. And he was all alone, what if the other noisy idiots were just nearby?_ So he did what every smart and brave war machine would do. __  
“Hihehehe, yeah! … Maybe another time. Later sucker!” He ran.  
Was that it? No. That would be too boring. Of course the story didn’t end here even though it would be the best timing but it simply wasn’t… __  
  
  
“Are you even paying attention?!” The guy kept yelling and swung his evil stick threatening at him. “How are we supposed to get the whole promised cash for you, if you look too beaten up, scum? Our customers don’t like damaged products”  
They roughly pushed him inside that dark suffocating cell he had to life in for three days now. And still no sign of anybody to – ugh, why did he even still bother thinking about it? It was totally useless. Foolish. Just stop holding on to that stupid thing called hope. He was sold. The commission was already paid to Darius and he hadn’t shown up since, neither did his brothers. So they really just wanted to get rid of him, huh? Now he was about to be the slave of some Triceraton Gangster and shipped to another planet, as soon as the deal was save enough to conclude without the Peace Makers watching the route in and out of the orbit, as he heard the guys talk about once.  
Well, it couldn’t be that bad, right? He was just a couple of months old and lived the most pitiful life imaginable. If it was Darius or somebody else didn’t matter. That was just his only reason to exist. To be some kind of monster, killing machine, not able to have a free will.  
  
“Huh, I hope at least their life is better now” He spat bitterly and with a huge lack of his usual spiteful attitude. One would say he almost looked pitiful or worth of being shown mercy and care. Almost. Yet he still was nothing but a thing. A monster. Weapon. Clone. And now … a slave. That was the truth. That was his reality. His life. And there was nothing that could change it.


	2. He hated him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dark Mikey waits in his prision for ... just anything, he recalls some distant memories from a very special and unusual day that he had tried to suppress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Todays song - or earwig - is Dream Catcher from Set it Off, yay :D  
> Well, I'm on a roll baby and while I'm working on chapter four, here ya have the extra special long chapter of a flashback xD originally I wanted to split it or just put them as little fragments into the real chapters, but that would take forever and only cause confusion, so enjoy~

He ran, trying to mask his insecurity with maniacal laughter even though he might intended to be quiet at first. He often used the same catchphrases like his original, but never actually behaved like a real ninja, more like a monster knowing martial arts on a rampage sort of behavior.  
He wasn’t aware that Mikey still followed him. His senses weren’t that focused or … well, there. Maybe that’s why he almost tripped over his big feet when that little persona of his landed right in front of him as he was about to find an entrance to the old sewer system in an alley.  
“Look dude, I really like playing games and stuff, but I don’t have time for this!” The orange clad Turtle said while he was pulling out his Nunchakus. He seemed not so eager for a fight, just like the clone himself, but it wasn’t like any of them would admit it out loud, so the yellow Turtles started to look around for just anything that could be useful in this situation.  
“Then why don’t you just screw off?” Was his brilliant answer as he was slowly taking steps backwards to a manhole which was maybe a bit too small for his size. So there really was no escape.  
They had to fight. It was their role. They were enemies after all. Whatever he wasn’t going to fall for his stupid tricks this time and would crack his shell open.  
  
They both circled each other like predators, neither of them making the first strike and just waiting for the others brothers to appear. But nothing happened, both just kept wasting time like that, until Michelangelo’s stomach began to beg for food. Very loud.  
“Man, I’m starving … so are you gonna tell me your evil plans and fight me now or what?” Mikey whined and was rewarded with an answer of the others stomach doing just the same. That was the moment when it occurred to him “I’m starting to think we’re both here for the same thing … are we?”  
His clone only hissed distrustful. His leader had told them about his experiences at the penthouse a little but never went into details. He only mentioned they were pretty annoying and weak. “Why do you care, you attacked first not me!”  
“Yeah, right … sorry ‘bout that” Mikey remembered days with Dark Leo and how his big brother had really believed his counterpart was able to have some honor and empathy with him. He saved Cody … although it was part of their plan maybe. Still whenever he thought about it, he just couldn’t believe it. Why would they hurt their brother on purpose, leave him with his enemies and just go away, waiting patiently for him to contact them. Weren’t they worried? Had they no guilt over what they’ve done? He actually had so many questions to his clone.  
  
“Sorry? What the shell?!“ Dark Michelangelo did not seem very pleased with this response. Rather confused and mad a bit out of not understanding why he said it. “Are you making fun of me again?!”  
“What? No, why would I – Oh“ _Sometimes he was a bit gullible_. That’s what he said to him last time while mentioning weaknesses because they were the same persons with the same abilities. “Look I’m sorry for attacking you! I just assumed you and your brothers were doing something evil again because Darius is still after Cody”  
“I have no idea. And they either sleep or don’t care. Just like I don’t care what you think about us” The yellow roared and pulled his tongue back into his mouth as if he was lowering his guard unintentionally. It was strange to see a horror version of yourself normally so maniac like now behave like a sensitive Raph in front of him. At least he seemed quite less crazy now. Maybe because they were both alone.  
“Well we do care about you, but not in a bad way. You see, my Leo thinks you guys are not truly evil. Well, Raph thinks otherwise and I’m not really sure about Donnie, but I, Splinter and Cody kinda agree with him. I mean your brother saved both Cody and Raph.”  
“He did what?!”  
  
  
Both Michelangelo’s stared at each other awkwardly not entirely sure what to say or do now. They should fight the other. They should avoid the other. They should do everything else than what happened shortly after their stomach’s rumbled together in canon.  
“Well … If we’re not gonna fight, then we can just go eat something. None of our big nannies’ here now anyway”  
  
  
  
“Aren’t we supposed to, like, do everything but hang out together?” Yellow felt really uncomfortable here. Nobody minded staring at them since there were more than just the two unordinary creatures in the pizzeria but he wasn’t supposed to stay in public either. Sunset was almost over so sitting here was bearable but he felt a bit sick. He had so many questions to his original but whenever he saw him in the eyes, saw him and his brothers, he just felt so mad and upset at the same time that he never was really sure what exactly made him feel this way. It was their whole behavior around each other or something that made his guts twist in envy. And now with just the two of them, no mission or other pressure on his shell, he had no intention to mask his dislike towards his original with joking. He didn’t feel up to it anyway.  
“Maybe, but neither you nor me want to fight and came here for pizza. And as I always say, forgiveness is divine … but never pay full price for late pizza” Mikey happily munched on a slice while quoting something just typical for him. His other self almost cracked a crooked smile but then remembered who he was facing. Hard to forget with those stupid innocent eyes that believed in silly things like good endings, justice and heroes.  
“Whatever” The clone eyed his pizza skeptically. He remembered the taste. Something he had tasted once, maybe only in his dreams but it was still there and he wondered if it still was the same or even better. But he had no money. He could just order and leave but with so many witnesses and the Peace Keepers nearby it wasn’t that tempting so he just sat there, on a chair a bit too small for his size.  
  
“About my brother … you said he saved your Raph?”  
“I assume that wasn’t part of the plan? Well, yeah he did. Kinda. I guess he didn’t really know either, why he did it” Mikey shrugged and looked at the second pizza. “You know I pay, do you? Well, it’s not my money but Donnie kicked me out and told me to occupy myself far away from his project”  
Dark Mikey glared at his original. He should go. He hated this guy. His brothers would bust his shell if they woke up and found out where he was and with whom. His stomach made his choice easier though. He hadn’t eaten anything yesterday.  
“I was wondering … do you guys call each other by the same names?” Mikey interrupted his thoughts while shoving the plate a bit more in his clone’s direction as if he was blackmailing him for information. Disgusting how much they each related to such ridiculous questions for the other. He also wanted to know stuff but did not dare to ask because if his brothers were here they would call him stupid and reckless for asking. Even though there were so many things, in this world he was born to recently, that he wanted to know. Especially about his original life. Yet at the same time he hated himself for such a craving.  
“… No. We never do. I don’t know why we should“ Yellow’s gaze frowned. He did not understand these things. They hardly ever called each other brother directly, only if speaking of them or referring to everyone and if only one was spoken to, they just said ‘you’ and that was it. They knew who they were. And since they despised their originals, they never said their names.  
“So if I asked you about your name or if you were to introduce yourself to someone, what would you say?”  
“… I … don’t know.” The clone scratched his head, which started to hurt because of all the complicated thoughts and happenings. So many instincts told him to leave and not to talk to this idiot. He hated this guy in front of him and yet here he was, slowly giving in to the delicious blackmailing smell. His tongue was already betraying him by slowly sliding out of his mouth with a small trail of drool along.  
“Oh, I’m really good at this! I don’t really want to call you Dark Me or Mikey, sooo … uh, I have a great idea! How about we make up an entirely new name for you?” He was beaming with excitement.  
“… No“ Yellows mood suddenly sunk deeper, just like the sun as he rose from his chair, not being able to hold his boiling feelings under control much longer. But before he left, his claws snatched the pizza box. That whole situation shouldn’t be a complete waste. Still, he ran again.

  
  
  
“Hey, wait! You can’t just leave. Come on dude, we just had a special moment!“ Mikey yelled after him, following the big steps his clone made with ease. At least till he increased his pace. With his bigger and stronger figure he could run much faster if he wanted to, but he just went into the next dark alley to climb the ladder.  
On the roof, he sat down to munch on his food in peace. He didn’t like it, when other people were around while he ate. There was this constant feeling someone might take it away from him.  
“Okay, I get that you don’t … wait, why are you like this anyway?”  
“What do you mean?!” Dark Mikey was highly displeased. He just wanted to be alone now  
„I mean you are so … not like me right now. Or, more like you … I think?” Mikey sat down next to him, finally addressing what bugged him since they met. Maybe Dark Leos visit had not only affected the real Turtles, even days after.  
“You don’t know what I’m like. Go away or I’ll … forget it” The smell of the pizza finally fulfilled its purpose as Dark Mikey took two slices at once and stuffed them into his mouth. Surprised by the incredible taste he just swallowed the whole pizza in a few more bites, making a total mess as the whole toppings gathered around his face, which he simply licked away with his long tongue. “Yummy! I never ate something THIS good!” Yellow declared cheerfully, all negative feelings forgotten for this moment. So he was a stress-eater too.  
Gasping Mikey whispered: “Dude, have you never eaten pizza before?!”  
“I thought I did but that were … only dreams I guess. I’m only a couple of weeks old and never got the chance until now” While explaining his instincts took over as he examined the box for more food but there was none left, which made him grumble and moody again.  
  
“Well … you’re welcome” The orange clad Turtle remembered the first meetings with their dark clones. He really wanted to know more about them. How they were born (okay, that sounded creepy), how they lived, why they did what they did, why they helped Darius and most importantly, if they were like scorpions from that tale or if they could change. But for the start, it was just this only simple question: What’s your name?  
“Hmm … Angelo?”  
“What?”  
“Wait no, I think you look more like a Steve” Mikey kept joking and barely hid his smile while doing so.  
“Dude, stop with the stupid names! They suck eggs man”  
„Well then just tell me how to call you! Or do you really prefer Dark Mikey?”  
“I prefer to be far away from you and your dumb brothers. You guys are annoying! Ever since he – my brother was with you, everything’s just so … dumb”  
  
Again there was silence between them as darkness flooded the big City and all the street lights came to living. They both knew they had to go back home. Still no one moved from their spot as they thought about the rare opportunity they had now. Who knew when they might have another chance like this? Or if they regretted it if not rise to such an occasion?  
“I just remembered something” Mikey whispered as he was looking at the dark sky for any stars. But there was no luck today with so many high buildings covering the view. Didn’t feel any different from his normal life in the sewers if he thought about it. “Dark Le –er, your brother mentioned, you guys would poison each other if you could. And after your Donnie attacked him with that laser I almost believed him, even if there was no way this could be true and then we found out it was part of your plan so … Maybe your right and I don’t know how you’re all like after all”  
“You think we hate us?”  
“No! Just … wondering. We are so much alike and different at the same time. It’s just crazy … and we’re technically twins so is it so bad to wanna know more about you? Because I’ve been wondering what our life would be like without father and – forget it, I’m just babbling” Jeez were was Raph to smack his head when he needed him? That was totally NOT how he wanted to talk about this sensitive topic.  
  
His clone narrowed his gaze, looking at his hands. Just claws that were meant to destroy everything.  
“I don’t hate my brothers. But we don’t talk much. We don’t live much. We have only your personalities and ability’s to a certain rate. We were created to destroy, especially you dudes. That’s all there is and nothing more that matters to us” Dark Mikey looked so sad as he tried to explain his thoughts. To put them into words must have been very difficult for someone who wasn’t used to talk with someone this much. Or to really think about his situation and feelings in general. “We are only monsters I guess. There is no other option than to keep trying to survive. If we don’t do what we’re created for then what reason was there for us to exist anyway?”  
Mikey gulped as he heard himself say that – or well, his clone. It reminded him of Leatherhead, Sidney and his other friends as his counterpart was talking so negatively. And for the first time he really thought to know how he felt.  
“You see, in our time we’re also monsters to the humans. And I made the mistake to think the same about some people before we got to know them better. And it turns out most of them are our friends now … And I always felt really bad for judging them before even trying to understand them, since we’re no different … Sensei told us, most people do or say bad things when they’re afraid”  
“Fearless also told me about that Sensei. And he always stares at that stupid green baby-tree while doing so. But why do you bring it up now?”  
“I – uh … I don’t know. I just want you to understand that … just because you were born for a certain reason and don’t know better yet … I mean … if someone just showed you that there’s another way and that you don’t have to be the monsters they wanted to create, then maybe you guys could become a real family _…_ I believe you can change and you’re not destined to be evil. Only your actions define who you are, nothing else. So … Be the person you want to be, not what others treat or see in you, you know?”  
  
With that, Mikey stood up again and patted his twin’s shoulder in a kind manner. A gesture no one ever had showed him in his short life before.  
“I don’t understand” The other frankly said based on everything that just happened the last hour.  
“Heh, it’s okay. I just really hope we can meet again someday and … maybe become friends”  
“Friends?”  
Mikey was just about to say more as his Shell Cell started to ring “Oops gotta go dude. See you around! And if you want to talk, let’s meet here again!” He yelled while he jumped off the building, leaving his new, yet nameless, friend to himself.  
  
He hated him. Oh how much he had despised his original. But now … he wasn’t sure about it anymore. There were even more questions.  
  
  
  
  
_And they were never answered … even till this day, as he was slowly sinking to the ground. Hungry. Thirsty. Betrayed. Alone. Only few things he was sure about crossed his mind, keeping him awake and replacing his desperation with inner anger._  
Superhero Comics were bullshit. There was no happy end. No Salvation. He had no friends. No family. Nor had he ever really been alive at some point. He could just die and vanish without making any differences. Right here and now. It wouldn’t matter.  
“Alright Turtle, time for you to meet your new master! Our costumer had to wait long enough!” Someone bawled and he heard his door open while he was starting to blackout.


	3. Traces

“Still no sign of him?” Dark Leo crossed his arms as he was waiting for his brother to report. Said one was looking at multiple screens.  
“No, Darius covered all his traces. And no security camera or other footage shows any sign of his current whereabouts. Did you have any luck?” Dark Donatello asked his leader while closing a couple of screens, showing restricted areas and alleys.  
“I followed him to all his corrupt meetings but he’s not doing anything related to him. Red hasn’t noticed anything either.” The oldest clone smashed his fist on the already damaged table in front of him. The old lair in the sewers still smelled pretty bad but they had managed to make it a bit more endurable living down here. They gathered what they could find on junkyards. However it did not help filling their empty stomachs.  
  
“One would guess since he’s his new Bodyguard he should know something. But Darius knows he’s the least of us to figure his plans out” The purple one only stated while looking at his tech stuff. With better equipment maybe he could’ve found his little brother much sooner but it couldn’t be helped.  
“Stop saying that. He’s as skilled as all of us when it comes to trust our instincts. If we could harm Darius he were the first one to beat the answers out of him” Dark Leo lectured his brother and took some clean water from the … kitchen or whatever it once was … for his bonsai. It was a miracle this thing was still alive with the huge lack of sunlight.  
“I don’t say he’s dumb but he’s relying a bit too much on his instincts than his brain. Just like … him” His face never showed really much emotion but Dark Donnie was really affected by the lack of one of his most annoying brothers. Even if the youngest – just by a matter of minutes because he came out of these containers last – was a pain in the shell most of the time, always loud and really the most twisted in his head of them all, he felt as if he was just as responsible for his wellbeing like his leader. Maybe because of his originals persona who must be a very caring and good hearted being? Didn’t matter now.  
  
“Danny we have to keep looking. Darius can’t fool us forever and if we’re not able to hurt him we’ll find some other way” The blue one tried to sound a bit … encouraging for a change. But with his rational brother it was really difficult. He almost wished to know how his counterpart handled such situations. Out of all his brothers the smart one seemed to be bothered by not having his own persona and name most. He was even pretty upset if he was compared to Donatello or called Dark Donnie out loud. And to the surprise of everyone, Yellow came up with a nickname one day. It was pretty strange but … they never ever had seen Dark – well, Danny – smiling before.  
  
It was about two weeks ago or so. After they woke up with the night there was no sign of the youngest clone so he went out to look for him, just to find him sitting on a building with an empty pizza box to his feet, staring at the sky. He had not been his usual self since. It was freaking the other three out but simply asking what was wrong seemed so against their nature, so weak, that they just did what they always did: leave it to him and to care only for themselves. Still he had tried to talk to him once when he shared his food. It was more because his brother had denied his offer. After he asked him why, the (very sarcastic) answer was that he didn’t want to get poisoned too.  
  
_“Ugh … just forget it dude, I was just thinking. I know, very suprising”_  
 _“What were you thinking about?”_  
 _“Dunno … say, why don’t we have our own names?”_  
  
It never bothered Leonardo’s clone to be associated with him, even if that was somehow pretty ironic. But Dan was really into it for some reason. He remembered both his little brothers sitting in that corner that he called his lab and figuring out a composition for Dark Donatello. For one who was created from a really creative person and one with high curiosity it was a rather funny way of passing time. So the genius had written his originals name on a paper and both figured new nicknames out. So there had been Dante for example. But no one could spell that name right, even if it fit so well since it was Italian too, so they stayed with Dan or Danny. Still sounded pretty similar to his counterpart but better than nothing. However, they were interrupted when Darius showed up, instantly ruining the almost good mood in the lair.  
  
They never had the chance to do it again since then. Darius made them do many jobs as bodyguards for meetings with other criminals or steeling weapons from O’Neil Tech. That name was all purple had left now. And his weapons. For now, all they could do was keep searching for him.  
  
“I’m back!”  
As soon as Dark Leo heard his brother yelling, the big guy came right in. He didn’t look so happy but that was normal. Darius took great advantage of the whole ‘not touchable’ thing and kept insulting the Turtles. Red was already very sensitive about his looking. It seemed to hurt him and he really wanted to punch that guy in the face. Dark Leo was clearly upset too but Darius was the only person that could brought food and money so they were able to actually exist, even if it was hidden under the city. But well, they had electricity, a more or less dry place to sleep and something to do. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he was honest. That’s what they were created for and without the Turtles around, there was no opponent left to fight. And he wasn’t thrilled to bother Cody but never admit it out loud.  
“Anything new?”  
The red clone grumbled in frustration and sat on the ground. “I so wish I could smash his lights out. If you look for him, he’s talking weirdish again back behind”  
Saying nothing about his bad grammar and language, the leader only nodded and went into stealth mode.  
  
Darius had his own office at some place that once seemed to be shut with Asian wooden doors. It was almost the only room that didn’t look too destroyed or dirty. Mostly because it was half empty. A lot of room for training and meditation. But Dark Leo dismissed these stupid thoughts immediately while eavesdropping. It sounded like Darius was talking to someone on his phone again. Normally pretty useless topics like deliveries and other deals, but his gut told him that this was different than the others.  
  
“Jammerhead, my friend. Pleased to hear from you. I was just about to call you myself” That bastard used his honey tone voice again. It made the leader sick. “I heard that the route through the earth orbit around the city is safe tonight. All clear and no Peace Keepers involved. The ship with the … products … should be able to deliver … I know, three days are long enough for the costumers to wait. I hope the home delivering makes up for it. Now about my share …”  
After that, there was a long silence. It had been exactly three days and a half since their little brother disappeared. Darius only told them he was on a mission and after a day and trying to reach him with no response, they had confronted him but he only insulted them and made excuses. Oh how badly they wanted to strangle this asshole.  
“I’m afraid I cannot attend the meeting tonight … Yes, I’m aware my creatures would be of good use for the mission but it’s a bit of a … personal matter, if you remember. Since the audition I have keeping my distance to not cause any inconvenience. However I hope the little present I offered you will be returned. I expect your man’s loyalty for the future cooperation. Selling slaves is quite a hazardous business … Well, I might still have use for the rest of my staff, but if I succeed I could consider letting you confer them. For the right payment that is” The man snickered silent as he looked at his digital notebook that showed his stats increasing as the transaction was in progress. “It’s always a pleasure to collaborate with you, Jammerhead”  
  
That fucking bitch was so dead.  
  
  
Containing his upcoming roar the clone leader retreated to the main area, were he had to pull every bit of temper in his being together to not directly start tearing apart everything that was within his reach. His restless roaming drew the attention of his other brothers on him.  
“What have you found out?” Dan was the first to speak up. Normally the three other clones never dared to come close or even speak to their leader if he was in that state. It was better for everyone to just leave him alone so that he could calm down on his own but that was a different situation.  
“That worthless moron … he sold our brother! He literally sold him as a slave to build a partnership with some other shady bastards” Dark Leo gritted his teeth in order not to yell, so they would hear him. As mad as he was, they couldn’t afford to let Darius know since he was the one who could warn his new ‘friends’ and they would take their brother away just to make sure they don’t find him.  
“He did WHAT?!” As soon as Red stood up, both of his remaining brothers covered his large mouth to make sure not the whole lair plus city could hear him. Gladly, Dan understood the situation very quickly. That didn’t change the fact that his usually grim expression even darkened as he snarled toneless  
  
“What new friends?” As soon as they managed to keep their brother silenced, the genius rushed to his monitors and opened a new window that contained all the gangs the Peace Keeper ever listed.  
“That guy’s name was Jammerhead” Dark Leo clenched his hands to tight fists, while his smart brother entered the name.  
“Street Phantoms. That must be him” He stated  
“I’m gonna go bust lots of heads” Dark Raph added, already putting his weapons on.  
“Trust me, you’ll get your chance soon enough. Nobody sells nor enslaves a brother of mine” Their Leonardo was also on it, swinging his sword in a threatening manner. “And when we’re done with them, we will make Darius pay too somehow”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, the first name is revealed :D It's Dante! It was surprisingly easy to find a Name for Dark Donatello, made of the same letters. I know, not the most creative idea, but I'm trying!


	4. Silhouette

“It’d be much easier if he was conscious, man! That thing’s heavy as hell” One of the Street Phantoms complained as he tried to lift Dark Mikey into the ship. One of his fellows finally finished laughing at him and lend him a hand. But it took four of them to get him in.  
“Make sure he’s in a good condition when we deliver him. The taming’s up to the costumer but if he’s damaged we won’t get any money!” Another pointed out, not so pleased about his task either.

 

Jammerhead directed his other minions to load the rest of the slaves into the ship while three other had to lift the Turtle clone into the storage room of the ship.  
If that freak mutant wasn’t so heavy and resistant against the paralyzers or medication things would be a lot easier. They had literally no other choice but to starve him out so he wouldn’t fight anymore. Luckily his system burned calories a lot faster than humans did, resolving in a need for more food and therefore his condition lowered rapidly over the last twelve hours.  
“Now get that thing in there and finish the packing already, I want to deliver our products before dinner, gentlemen!” The gang’s leader yelled across the area.  
“Aye boss!”

  
  
  
Loud noises alerted his senses. He was moving. The ground was vibrating. He was so dizzy.  
„Ugh, no more“ He mumbled barely awake. It was then that he noticed something held him tight, barely leaving any opportunity to move. He was laying on some bunk, tied down with seatbelt like things. He also noticed a strange feeling at his left wrist, there was a weird liquid entering his veins via infusion. He felt a bit better because of it, but not well enough to free himself though.  
  
“Hey, that freak’s awake”  
“Good, means we’ll get our reward”  
  
Two members of the gang, guarding the slaves in the store section, were staring at him, grinning wide with spitefulness. The clone wanted to respond in the nicest way he ever could in that situation, but his mouth felt like a desert and his tongue just numbly dangled from his mouth. He didn’t know he kept it open in the first place. Geez it was all so blurry. And the sudden jolt of the room, or whatever this was, made him sick. If his stomach wasn’t already empty he would’ve thrown up now. Everything moved quite faster than it should.  
_“Alright, the route is all clear, we’re about to take off! Next stop – wait”_ The voice in the speaker was interrupted by something that caused the other guards to rouse. They exchanged glances before one of them left. Something was definitely not going according to their plan. That speculation proved to be right when the whole ship came to a sudden halt and the remaining guard lost his balance, right in front of him.  
  
Dark Mikey was about to gag, but the second sudden movement also had its advantages due to the adrenalin now flooding his body. His numb senses came to live once again as he pulled his tethered arm free first with the strength he didn’t know he still had left. The string, that had entered his veins, popped out, making him feel even dizzier for a moment.   
He snatched the control pad from his captivator, unleashing not only his but all slaves from their cuffs and strings or whatever else they were caught with, he didn’t really pay much attention or cared for anyone else but his own self and to get away from here as long as he still could.  
  
“No! Jammerhead, I need backup!” The guardian on the ground grabbed Yellows ankle, trying to stand up. But before anyone of them was able to react any further, the gate opened again, but no backup came. Instead, a couple of guys in uniforms busted in. And there was this weird robot thing, telling everyone not to move and surrender.  
Well, no. He could forget that! Obviously they were no fitting company for him either, so the clone only threw himself against the robot. With his big size and imprecisely movements he was a difficult target and the weapons they aimed at him along with the yelling were ignored.  
With a lot of Turtle luck and the advantage of surprise he was able to flee the crowded room, just to find himself in main area with even more enemies.  
  
Shit there just had to be an exit! Why was everything spinning if the ship never even left the ground? Why was he still so tired and nauseous? Why … was his arm hurting so much? Oh right, the infusion. His whole wrist was numb and he could barely control his arm without it shaking.  
“Halt! In the name of the Peace Keepers!” The strange robot was already back up again with his goons behind him.  
“Catch me if you can!” He yelled with a very unusual cracked voice, reminding him how much he craved for food and water. Well he was going to die anyway, he had nothing to lose! Which made him question … why was he even trying to survive in the first place?  
  
_“Hey, you!”_ That voice was new _. „Wait, aren’t you …? Wait!“_  
He would rather die doing whatever he was going to do than just standing around and wait. So he did what he could do best and just kept running, not turning back.  
He went through the main entrance, half way rolling the bridge down, as he seemed to be followed by another robot.  
Damn his arm was bleeding now and his legs just wouldn’t obey his will to stand up and run straight forward. Instead he was stumbling and weirdly shifting from one leg on the other, much slower than he used to be.  
_  
“Stop, you’re only making it worse!”_  
That familiar voice called after him. It wasn’t the police robot, that’s for sure but he couldn’t think clearly right now, so he just went for it, letting his survival instincts overtake.  
  
Dark Mikey jumped forward, running on all fours – or rather three because of his injured wrist – which enhanced his speed to a certain expand even if he was in a critic state. His tongue dangled out of his mouth, as he tried to breathe. His throat was so dry it felt as if the air became thick like cotton, simply not helping and making his lungs burn in agony.  
The clone was lost. Everything looked so strange and he couldn’t figure out where to go, so he just went from alley to alley, not daring to look back.  
  
  
  
  
Running. Running further away from all those humans. Not knowing which way he should go nor which he was already on. Just fleeing. Fleeing until his legs finally gave up.  
  
He tripped over his own feet and tumbled to the ground, directly into a puddle. Was it raining? His senses weren’t functioning at the moment so the smells around him couldn’t be identified by his brain right now. He barely recognized his surroundings, only taking deep and hasty breaths.  
His tongue soaked the liquid almost like a sponge. After not drinking anything for days he didn’t care what it was or where it came from, he just licked it like a hound. After several seconds, his brain finally processed the new information.  
Yellows eyes snapped open and he gagged. The puddle of rain water was completely contaminated with oil. Well he was in an industrial zone after all, with all the Spaceships and launch courts. How foolish of him. But not surprising at all, he was the dumb one as everyone told him. Not as dumb as Red but still. If only his brother could see him now … they’d probably laugh at him. Or insult him for being so stupid and weak now.  
  
  
  
“Not to be … dramatic or something but … I-is this how it … ends?” He asked himself, limply falling to the side, facing the dark sky and looking for stars. There weren’t much buildings in this areas, so he actually spotted a few of them. “Well, already expected something like this”  
  
What was there left living for anyway? His purpose was gone, his brothers had abandoned him, he had no real origin, nor was he ever really alive. Only about three months old and already useless. Just trash. Nothing more. He could just turn back into some kind of purple goose and cease to exist, it didn’t matter.  
He knew nothing else but surviving, no matter how. But what for? He had to fight for food, for living, for being there and … he was tired of it.   
  
All these dreams about his original and his life, all the things he imagined. All the words without meaning he never could truly understand. All the questions he never asked his twin, the true Michelangelo.   
What was it like to be loved? What did family mean? How did it feel to eat this ‘breakfast’ together with the ones you cared about? What was caring? Mercy? Being there for each other? Having a home, safe and secure from the cruel world? What was the thing about heroes, justice and happy endings?  
  
“Guess it’s too late to find out now” Dark Mikey was about to black out again, this time maybe for real now. His surroundings faded into black nothingness, the noise around sounding far far away from him and this numb feeling in his arm had already taken over his whole body. He felt so light headed, so dull. He didn’t know how he should feel now. If you never knew life, how was he supposed to feel about death? All he could do was waiting for it and find out.  
  
But why … was there still some liquid in him left, to escape his dissimilar eyes, streaming down his face?  
  
_“-ikey! Hey, come on, pull yourself together!”_ A big, bulky silhouette appeared in front of him, blocking the nice view of the night sky and its rare stars. Sadly he couldn’t complain about it anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I can be a real Drama Queen, I know.


	5. To Understand

“Ugh, everything hurts” The clone of Michelangelo opened his eyes in pain and was greeted with bright lights, blinding him immediately. For a moment he thought he had to throw up again because of the weird dull taste in his mouth, but then he smelled something delicious. Wait, smell? What smell? “Am I dead?”  
  
His eyes took long to get used to the brightness around him, but he eventually managed to take in his surroundings. Everything looked so clean and bright and he was half laying half standing in some sort of … bed? What the shell? This place looked so strange. And there was a flying sandwich in front of – Wait what. The. Shell?!  
“I knew it, I AM dead!” Dark Mikey rubbed his eyes, surprised by the bandages around his left wrist and how good he actually felt.  
  
_“No, but it was critic. Not that much life threatening but you were in a very poor state”_  
  
That voice again. Yellow had no idea where it came from. With shaking legs from the lack of use, he stepped out of that weird cocoon thingy. The tablet with his food was flying lower, in perfect reach now. When he eyed the sandwich suspiciously, the voice spoke again.  
  
_“It’s not poisoned, don’t worry. You can eat it“_  
  
As encouraging as it sounded, Dark Mikey still sniffed the plate before grabbing the bread. Again: he had nothing to lose. So he just went for it and munched the whole sandwich down in two bites, emptying the glass of water next to the plate and greedy licking every drop away in the drinking glass, craving for more.  
  
_“See? Wasn’t so bad”_ The voice half laughed and finally obtained a shape as it stepped in his sight.  
  
“You … you’re that Cody dude” The glass shattered on the ground as the clone dropped it in shock when he spotted the boy, standing all alone on the other side of the room. “No way! NO!“  
Dark Mikey’s jaw dropped and he was sure his tongue extended a few inches. From all the places where he could’ve possibly woke up, from all the people he could’ve encountered, it was him. That wimp his own brother almost sacrificed his life for.  
  
Oh hell no, this was not gonna happen! He couldn’t stay here. It was just so not right! He had to get out of here and … and … damnit, think of something! He was totally like a caged rat right now. No escape, no way to run and his stomach was still grumbling like he hadn’t eat anything in days – okay that was true but still, he was having half a heart attack here!  
  
Dark Mikey was panicking and only thought about getting out of here, that he was about to dash through a window or something, not caring which floor he was on right now, and just leave this place but slumped to the ground when he felt a very unpleasant tingle in his ankle.  
  
“I’m sorry, but I had to promise the Chief that you’re not going to run around. It’s illegal to clone specimens in this city as far as he told me. I convinced him you wouldn’t harm anyone and that I take care of you, since my uncle is responsible for all this mess” Cody took a few steps into his direction, never breaking eye contact. He looked as if he didn’t know what exactly to do himself in this situation. As if he was just a s lost as his guest was.  
  
“You knew?!” Yellow had no idea what to believe or do now. He just rubbed his leg with the strange black device that blinked funny.  
“Yes, we suspected the Street Phantoms and monitored their leader’s cell phone. I was contacted when they heard that Darius was involved. O’Neil Tech is cooperating with the police now, which makes a lot of things easier” The young CEO approached him, showing a little remote while scratching the back of his head apologizing. “It’s nothing harmful, only uncomfortable for your muscles. I’m sorry you probably endured enough by now but I had to agree with at least this as a safety measure”  
He wouldn’t dare telling him they had to do something similar with his Leonardo when he was in his place. The current mood made him a little nervous. Cody wished Master Splinter or Serling were here right now to give him advice or at least support him with their presence.  
  
“I … have to stay here?”  
  
“Well … Yes, for now. But don’t worry, as long as you’re in the apartment, you can go wherever you want! … Uh, except the roof, that works only if I’m nearby” Cody smiled a little. It was meant to be encouraging but all Dark Mikey felt was confusion and distrust. He wasn’t supposed to be here and even if he could give a fuck by now after all the betrayal … his chest still hurt and made him hesitate. Though he was still hungry and thirsty but just wanted to be alone for little while.  
Yet was at a new place with new companionship and with new circumstances that locked him away. Again. Why was this happening to him? What did he do to deserve this? He almost regretted not being dead because his life was such a mess right now. Sorry for being such a drama queen but this sucked eggs man! It was so unfair! Why … just why?  
  
  
“Hey now, don’t cry! I promise, you’ll be fine” Cody raised his hand _(wait he had been crying?)_ and bend down to him _(and he was sitting on the ground?)_ but the clone crawled backwards until his shell collided with the weird bed again. “Okay, okay I know many things happened but … look, you’re still hungry right? I can tell, you’re a Mikey after all. So why don’t we go eat something?”  
  
"I’m not Mikey!“ was all he responded and refused to look at these dorky eyes and this innocent smile. It only remembered him of that stupid original of his he despised with all his … heart or whatever.  
“Oh? Uhm … sure, of course you’re not. I guess he was right. Then what’s your name?“ Cody seemed a bit taken back but he still tried his best to earn the clones trust. But his efforts proved to be in vain.  
  
“Damnit what’s with all the stupid names?! Just leave me alone! I don’t want your pity, I don’t need it! Shove those lies elsewhere but stop pretending to be my … my … friend, or some shit!” Dark Mikey hissed at his host and punched the thing he was resting moments before until it broke.  
He was so hurt and furious. He couldn’t understand anything, his mind was a complete mess and nothing made sense. All he was able to do was destroy something, hoping to feel better after it was done.  
  
But even with hurting fists and a total wrecked - whatever that thing was – it did not reduce his anger and desperation.  
“I don’t understand … **I. don’t. Understand**!“  
He tore the wires apart, stomped on the pad and threw the small pieces across the room until he was out of breath, ignoring the slight pain in his leg that emitted a warning signal.  
  
“I don’t understand … why am I even alive? What for? Why is all of this happening?” He whispered, sinking to his knees in defeat. “Why won’t it stop it hurting?”  
  
  
Cody looked at his guest in empathy. Dark Leonardo and the phone call already explained a lot of the mess the clone brothers were born in. And the complete mess he saw right in front of his very eyes only made his guilt worse. He had to take responsibility for his uncle’s actions. He had to help them. He had to … no, he wanted! It was the right thing to do.  
Mikey – the real one - told him before they left to look after them. At first Cody thought it was meant for him to be careful about the Dark Turtles but he knew better since they had a talk a couple days before they travelled back and … Serling disappeared. It still was nice to have company once again. Without the Turtles, Master Splinter and the robot that raised him he was even lonelier than before. But it wasn’t about him at the moment so he swallowed these emotions for now.  
  
“Well, those are questions everyone once in their life asks themselves at one point. I think there is no need for a certain reason from the beginning. We just have to find our own purposes. They’re not set in stone nor have to stay the same … or even just one.” Cody cleared his throat. He was trained in ninjutsu and could at least defend himself or flee if needed to but he thought this big guy might need a friend right now. As much as the clone wanted to be alone, he seemed more to be the kind of person who absolutely did not like to be on his own. Maybe he could help him understand? He was not even the slightest close to being as good as Splinter but he could still try.  
  
“Some things, bad or good, just happen. Nobody knows why, if it’s just a coincidence or intention … I don’t know either. All we can do is endure it or try to change things. But we don’t have to do either on our own” Dark Mikey sniffed and hid his face in his hands, not flinching when Cody made an effort to pat his shoulder. “I know it hurts, but maybe it can hurt less if you let me help you”  
  
  
“How can a pipsqueak like you possibly help me?” Yellow snarled with a hoarse voice as if Cody knew every answer in the universe. Yet still refused to look at him and shivering under the gently touch.  
  
“I’m afraid I don’t know yet. But I’ll try”  
"Why?“  
"Because I want to be your friend“  
"Why?“  
"Because I think you’re no evil twin or something“  
"Why?“  
“I … just know”  
  
Cody was lost, still questioning himself if he was doing the right things or if any of his idols could’ve done better in his place. He knew the clones weren’t as intellectual as their original, mostly because it wasn’t required for their creation, instead they obtained more animalistic attributes. And they were still so young.  
He knew the Dark Turtles could be more than just monsters. All of them. They had it in them. But he didn’t mention the others now since the Turtle in front of him was clearly upset over something that involved his brothers and – he was certain – Darius. He had to earn his trust now and teach him what Serling, Master Splinter and the other Turtles taught him … in a way. After that, he could focus on finding the other Dark Turtles and arrest his evil uncle once and for all.  
  
“... Okay” Yellow interrupted his inner monologue. Cody hadn’t realized his guest calmed down enough to face him again. It was a little achievement but they already made progress.  
  
“So, with that settled … do you like pancakes?”


	6. Almost

“We almost had him!” Dark Raph punched a hole in the wall of their current hideout, an old warehouse of a closed factory they made sure Darius wouldn’t know about. “Fuck!”  
  
Dark Leo and Dan weren’t any less furious either. They paced the dark room in circles, trying to think of a solution.  
“The damn cops were faster than us, they already invaded the ship when we arrived” Dark Leo pointed out, holding a lot of ugly words back. One cursing sailor around was enough and wouldn’t help one bit. Though he was still just as mad.  
  
“We could’ve been faster if we had taken the ship, but it was too risky and obvious” Dante’s tail tapped the ground impatiently. He calculated every possible outcome of their mission but this one caught him off guard. “At least we know he’s not going to be some Triceraton slave or something”  
  
“Yeah, very optimistic, Dan” Dark Leo had tried to mask his frustration but with no success.  
  
They could’ve saved him … how funny since saving someone was one of many things they shouldn’t do. At least it was meant to be something they did not value. Like honor, mercy, generosity … the list was longer than he thought but it did not matter now. It was just how they were designed.  
Their Mikey was with Cody. And even if the leader wouldn’t admit it, he was sure his little brother was save with him. Although he betrayed their trust, that boy was just as gullible as the original Turtles. It was their nature. And for the first time he thought it was a good thing. Cody and the Peace Keepers arrived earlier and therefore they freed the slaves.  
It didn’t matter how they knew about that illegal deal but it had at least the one advantage of not getting caught.  
  
Dark Leo let the happenings of today sink in. It was just crazy how moments before he had his brother almost in his reach. Almost! If je were just a little quicker and better, more skilled in his ninja abilities like his original then …  
  
  
He had seen his brother escaping and followed him as fast as he could, even leaving his other two brothers behind who weren’t as advanced in pursuing like him. But all the rain and chaos around him. He had to stay covered! That’s how a ninja operated and … damn, if he had just acted sooner. If he had just made better and wiser decisions. He had failed.

He soon lost his brothers tracks since the police and other witnesses hindered him. Oh how Dark Leo regretted not acting more offensive. His ninja senses annoyed him at that moment so much _(and they still did now)._ Being much faster at stealth mode than his other brothers didn’t help anything!  
  
He was only just in time to see Cody in the Turtle X and a following little vehicle flying over his head as he snuck into a shadow to not be seen. They flew directly to the Apartment, as far as he could tell. And he knew his brother was with him.  
To be frank, it would solve many problems and should worry him less. Yellow was save. There was no possible place he would be more secure than there, with that Cody Jones.  
  
Still, there was this awful ponding in his chest, not hurting but making him feel quite uncomfortable and he wished he knew some way to make it stop. Why did he even care so much? Was that because of the influence his original and his family had on him since he had been there himself? What if something similar happened to his brother? How should he feel about that? Why did he even think of some shit like that anyway? No, screw that. It was his role as the leader and the (by moments) oldest of his brothers. He had so get him back. Maybe that’ll make that stupid convulsion in his chest stop.  
  
  
  
“No matter how, we’ll make Darius pay for this. And we’ll get our brother back!” He said instead to get rid of these unnecessary confusing thoughts and bring his focus back on the main task.  
As determined and certain as he sounded, Dante wasn’t really convinced with the plan of his leader.  
“Sure but I suggest we get Mi – uh, _him_ – back first. I don’t think Dariu’s nephew is going to deactivate him but … As irrational as it sounds, we function better as a team. And the chance of our plan to get rid of Darius has a far higher rate of being a success with him”  
“And what makes you think that?” Red eyed his brother surprised. The genius sounded almost like he cared for their little brother. It was strange how impressed it made the big guy feel … with a hint of understanding and empathy, as strange as it was already for him. He decided to ignore it.  
  
“I just know!” Dan grunted, surprising himself how much he was capable of showing emotion lately. He wanted to know his brother with them, not at some strange place, especially with their foe.  
Danny didn’t care what his leader said about Cody, he knew how much society, most importantly the police, thought about clones. They had only themselves, even their creator was gone and Darius only wanted to get rid of them as soon they couldn’t provide profit to him anymore. It was a tragedy. Their whole life. But such was the simple mind. Careless. They would never see how miserable life for them was unlike him and his high intellect. They’d never understand how small chance of surviving was for them.  
Only together they maybe would have a somewhat future. Well, maybe not really, but it made their petty existence … a bit more bearable if they ‘shared’ it. At least that was his conclusion.  
  
  
“… Dante is right. We’ll get him first” Dark Leo watched his brother’s reaction. The purple clone nodded while red grunted in response. And honestly, until they really knew their brother was save and sound, they couldn’t focus on something else anyway so screw Darius. They may not be able to harm him but that didn’t mean he had control over them, last time they checked. He had not the necessary devices to deactivate them and he wasn’t their master. Hell no, he never would be! “We head to the penthouse tomorrow after sunset”  
  
The night was almost over and the lack of food had worn them out pretty much already so Dark Leo found it was a better idea to rest first.  
“And what are we gonna do? Knocking at the front door and kindly ask?” Red just sat down where he stood, scratching his claw-weapons on the asphalt and carving holes into it, still not really satisfied. If he could, he’d just bust in, grab Yellow and leave. But he knew the security system darn well by now.  
“Well, we can’t break in by force, I have no access to Darius technology. Especially after tonight” Dante crossed his arms, his tail tapping the ground again, thinking of a solution. It was pretty unusual for him to not have thought about that fact sooner. Normally he planned at least three steps ahead and till this moment he hadn’t even wasted one thought about how to break into the apartment. Everything was rushed since the phone call.  
  
“I’ll think of something” The blue clone mumbled to himself, not sure which option was the more appropriate. He tried stealth and it failed. They tried force and failed. And not to forget the plan about ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’.  
  
  
The leader paced the dark room a few times, his expression stern and thoughtful. He needed to have a clear head and think about the next steps. The believe, Cody was taking good care of his brother, was still present. Yet he refused to leave him there. He told himself it was because Cody was the enemy but … he cared for all his brothers and even if he didn’t know what he would do or say to yellow, as soon they reunited with him, he just felt that it would relieve him. That uncomfortable feeling would vanish. Yeah that was for sure. But what then? If they were complete once again and also kick Darius butt, what was left? Would they return to the lair? Would they keep searching for food, only making it from one day to the next? What kind of life was that supposed to be?! Hidden from the world underground in old ruins looking for anything to survive and what for? To be outcasts? They were created for a purpose. Not having any purpose was as if they just wasted time they could’ve used to … to …  
  
He really needed to stay calm.  
  
Dark Leo grunted and sat down, lotus position. Deep breaths. Long and steady. Clear your mind. Channel your energy and focus only on the present. Right here. Right now. Steady like a river. Or whatever shitty mantra.  
  
  
“What the shell is he doing now?” Red asked his genius brother as if their leader suddenly had lost his mind. And he always thought Yellow was the crazy one.  
“He’s mediating, idiot. Just shut up and don’t disturb him” It looked pretty strange to Dante. The original Leonardo always did such things, as far as he knew. His memories of the Turtles were very hazy. But his mind was already busy trying to think of a ways for their escape, if they had to break in. He could take a look around the closed factory, to see if he found something useful he could tinker with. A lasergun, a vehicle, anything that might help them or at least give him an idea how they could break in tomorrow.  
  
“And what are we doing now? How long is this mediating?” Red had carved many lines in the ground where he sat and was bored, restless and most of all still upset. Though he did lower his voice to not interfere his Leo. Thad wouldn’t end well at the moment.  
“I’m glad that you ask, I need your ridiculous strength to collect a few things around here”  
Dante just ignored how flustered his brother seemed with the compliment _(technically it was for Dan’s standards)_ and just followed since he had nothing else to do.  
“And we need food. I’m starving!”  
“Huh, you almost sound like … uh, forget it. We’ll see”  
  
Both of them left their Leo alone, knowing he was able to defend himself and there was no possible thread around. Not like they would be worried if that wasn’t the case or cared about his wellbeing in general. That was just idiotic. It was just that one problem to take care of was enough. Yeah that was it. Nothing else.


	7. No Copy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody and Dark Michelangelo having a nice breakfast ... sort of.

„Holy shi – this is like the most beautiful thing I never dreamed about!“ Dark Mikey gasped in shock as his gaze fell upon the feast on the large table. It seemed to be meant for far more people than just two but the other chairs looked like they hadn’t been used in a while. However it was beyond his imagination. His creative mind had dreamed more than once about a huge pile of food, more than he or his brothers could ever consume, a day without going to bed hungry and the taste of fresh fruits and crystal clear water still in mind. But seeing it with his own eyes right in front of him was so surreal, Yellow hardly dared to blink, fearing it would all be gone in a split second and he woke up in the dirt.  
  
“I knew you’d like it. Have a seat and enjoy – but trust me, you don’t have to overdo it, your stomach will only hurt if you … nevermind” Cody barely finished his warning as his guest dashed forward, not even caring to sit down and bending half of his body on the table and grabbing various kinds of food from the plates such as mentioned pancakes, fruits and Cody thought he even saw him shoving a whole bar of butter into his mouth. He made a mental note to give him pills against gripes later.  
  
After Dark Mikey devoured a meal worth at least four dishes, he took the juice can and slipped his tongue in it to taste if the liquid was edible … well, there was barely anything he actually didn’t like and instead of his original he maybe was a glutton but no gourmet. He just could never afford to be picky about it so he mostly ignored the creations and looking in general and just went for his instincts and sense of taste and smelling.  
“This is awesome” He stated while burping. It had to be a dream. Or he had to be dead ( _that conclusion still lingered in the back of his mind_ ). There was no way this was really happening. All of this. Everything.  
Maybe that’s why he hesitated all of a sudden and deliberated if he was still hungry or not. He most certainly would be able to force far more down his throat. And he should. Who knew what kind of mess he was going to endure next, after this Cockaigne? Eat what you can while you can was their motto after all!  
  
“Already finished?” Given Mikey’s huge capability to eat, Cody assumed his clone would consume much more, even more than Dark Leo did but the escapade ended just as quickly as it had started.  
“I don’t know …” The big Turtle couldn’t remember a time he was well fed. The feeling of hunger always lingered in his thoughts and belly so he wasn’t really sure if there was a limit and at what point he might reach it. He absolutely didn’t want to throw it all up again, that’d be a waste.  
  
He looked down at the can in his hands. It was almost empty and yet he couldn’t really tell what kind of juice it even was. He had not savored all the meals he just ate. Somehow this made him upset.  
“Is there more?” He asked, showing the Jones boy his jar as if he was a toddler presenting an ugly self-made painting.  
“Uhm, yeah but you might want to finish this first, otherwise we would only throw the leftovers away”  
“What’s leftovers?”  
“You know, if you don’t finish your plate there is something left which you can eat later. And there is still plenty of food, so we don’t have to get more” Cody pointed at the messy table behind the Turtle and the other two cans and unused cups.  
“Oh” Yellow eyed the drink in his hands. He had been so greedy, his whole face was wet and dirty just like his whole torso and the floor. Most of it just spilled instead of going into his mouth and he was not that skilled with his tongue to sip it like some kind of dog. It wouldn’t surprise if Cody had lost appetite because of him … which gave him a _nice_ idea.  
  
  
Dark Mikey grabbed one of the cups, ridiculously small for his claws, trying to fill it only to spill more of the juice on the table but eventually managed to finish and drink it. Was that orange juice? He never had drank some on his own, Michelangelo’s memories or whatever it was that connected them and caused those weird promptings and intuitions, but Yellow recognized it now that he concentrated enough.  
From the corner of his eyes he saw Cody examining his doing and smiling a little to himself as if he had done something right and approved. Maybe he really was just some kind of dog. But with all the food he couldn’t be angry now. Should he go a little further?  
  
Yellow repeated his actions but instead of drinking he offered Cody the cub, trying this sharing his brother introduced to them a while ago.  
  
“Want some?”  
The boy’s eyes went wide from disbelieve, staring at the object and swallowing hard.  
“Uh, actually I wanted to wait for you to … you know, finish first? I thought you might not want to share or eat together”  
Cody took a few steps back.  
“No, it’s enough for both of us. I share so you can eat too!”  
  
How dare he denying his offer? He was so generous and handing him a drink, even grabbing some pancakes with his other bare hand to show how nice he could be if he wanted to. To show he was just as good as that little weakling and his leader in things like these but he just won’t accept it? How rude! Dark Mikey made sure to let him notice how upsetting this scandal was.  
“Thanks, that’s really nice but …”  
Cody already felt sweat running down his neck. He made such a huge progress in a couple of hours already which took almost two weeks with Dark Leo ( _well, he was unconscious one week so he couldn’t blame him for that_ ) and now, after all the motivating speeches and gestures he wasn’t able to hold on to his promises. But what should he do? He couldn’t just tell his gullible friend that he thought it was gross and unhygienic to drink something someone else had tucked his tongue in let alone eat something from the unwashed hands of his guest – he had a good point but how could he politely explain something like that without causing another rampage? Now that he paid attention to it, even without all the food and juice on the Turtle, he smelled pretty bad. Had he ever had a real bath? Or used Toothpaste? Darn it, now he couldn’t un-notice it anymore!  
  
“I really appreciate it, but I –“  
“Is that not enough manners? Do you want something else? What have I done wrong now?!”  
“Okay, fine!”  
  
A deep growl escaped the clone’s throat, making Cody more nervous. The pressure finally became too much and Cody stretched his hands out, trying not to grimace too much when Dark Mikey dropped the smashed pancake in one and the glass in the other. He had no mirror but he could already tell how green his face turned by now. And the wary gaze of his opponent made it even harder. Just one bite. Just one sip. More wasn’t needed. He could just say he wasn’t really hungry. No big deal.  
Cody closed his eyes and opened his mouth, trying to imagine a delicious pancake and fresh orange juice – totally untouched and good looking like in the commercials.  
But as soon he had that one said little bite in his mouth, his imagination turned the taste and picture to garbage, just by thinking about all the gross stuff from the streets. He had to prevent himself from gagging through sheer inner will Master Splinter had taught him.  
His training finally paid off after he swallowed, a frightening shudder running down his back. He really had to wash his mouth now.  


  
To his surprise, instead of a questioning look he had already expected, his guest burst into his maniac laughter, almost rolling on the floor with amusement.  
  
“You really did that? You should’ve seen your face! And I thought Dante was the hygiene-freak!”  
“You – what?” Cody dropped everything and tried to get the rest out of his mouth. “Not cool, man!”  
“But it is!” Dark Mikey giggled even more and licked his hand, sticky with syrup and enjoying how much it engrossed Cody. His sense of humor was even worse and twisted than the original Mikey’s.  
“We have a long way ahead” Cody sighed “But who’s Dante?”  
“The one you called Dark Donatello”  
“I thought you guys don’t do names?”  
  
The smile on Dark Mikeys lips faltered as he realized where this was going. He couldn’t just tell him he had figured this one out with his genius brother. Just for fun. How stupid of him, he almost fell for his originals tricks. He told himself not to do friends, names and stuff like that because those were only lies and he shouldn’t care for anyone no more. Yet here he was, doing what he was doing now and succumbing to those dirty shenanigans of his enemies faster than for the pizza he had back then. Fuck. And now there was the sudden urge, to get away from here and avoid such conversations, again.  
  
“Ugh, forget this, I’m outta here!” He said instead, a slight hint of returning panic from before, going to the window and trying to open it. But as soon as he touched the glass, the device on around his ankle began to vibrate, causing his leg to spasm. The unpleasant feeling took him off guard, making him stumble to the ground “Yeah, figured I forgot something”  
“It’s either that or the police. Sorry but you can’t go until we captured my uncle” Cody apologized once more.  
“This guy sucks eggs! And so is this whole building! Why does anyone even care, ‘s not like I’m a threat to anyone” Dark Mikey whined and for a moment it almost felt like the real Mikey was here, having one of his overly melodramatic moments … in a way.  
“I’m starting to think your standing in your own way. Maybe the reason why you can’t decide or understand anything is because you always run away or try to avoid something” Cody started to theorize out loud, sitting next to the clone Mikey and offering him a napkin. He had some kind of Deja-vu from their talk earlier. He should keep those mood swings in mind.  
“And what would that be, small genius?” the latter responded suspiciously.  
“Everything involving the Turtles. Especially Mikey. I kinda know why but I’m not entirely sure yet“  
“Well that makes us two” The clone snarled and attempted to clean his face from all the mess, soon realizing one napkin wouldn’t be enough.  
  
  
Of course he could tell him all the things he hated about them. Their originals and their life and so on, but he didn’t know himself how to put his feelings into words. Maybe he was just too stupid for such things.  
Cody choose his next attempt to address the problem carefully.  
  
“Mikey really cared about you, you know. Before he left, he told me about your meeting. Ever since your brother has been here I thought all you guys really needed was a friend and someone that showed you that there’s another way”  
“No, there is none! I’m supposed to hate him! All of you! Well … I did for a while”  
“And now? What changed?”  
“I uh … I’m only mad at myself I think. Since I was born I’m just jealous ... You’re only nice because you think I’m him. But I’m not him! I’m me. I always was and always will be … only me. Me, not him“  
“You think that’s why we care about you?”  
“Why else?! I have dreams and memories only revolving about this family, always reminding me … how screwed up I am. I don’t want to be like _him_! Even if I would, I can’t. Because I’m not him. You call us Dark Turtles, Dark Mikey, Dark Leo, Dark Raph, Dark Donnie but we just aren’t them … I don’t want to. I want to be a me-original! No **_copy!_** ”  
  
Dark Mikey felt like he finally really discovered his strong unknown desire while Cody was simply amazed how simple the root of the problem was. He knew so much about clones and normally they were designed to be an exact copy of someone. That’s why he thought the Dark Turtles were just altered versions, more brutal and animalistic but still with the same characteristics of the **_original_** Turtles. He always assumed the dark version envied them for their different life standards but it was so much more.  
If he thought about it, he would be really pissed too if he was always referred to as a clone, copy and compared to an original.  
“I can assure you, I don’t want you to become a second Mikey. All I want is to be your friend … and you taking a long bath”  
Cody patted his guests shoulder half joking. It was only a fair payback for the nasty prank earlier so they were even. Dar – well, Yellow, even cracked a smile because of it, simply nodding.  
“Fair enough. I mean, it can’t be that bad … right?”  
  
  
  
  
It wasn’t bad. It was horrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I don't know about you but while writing this chapter I constantly had to think about some crazy version of httyd 1 scene where Toothless feeds Hiccup with fish ... Turns out it was more cute in my imagination xD


	8. Thoughts

“Dude, that's abuse! Stop! No more!” Yellow was pleading, yelping under the hot water and shampoo in his eyes as Cody cleaned his shell with a giant brush.  
“Don’t tell me you never bathed before?” The young CEO was fully unaware of the suffering he put his friend trough by cleaning him. He already used up a full bottle of soap but the corners of the shell and plastron were still dirty. However it was more exhausting than he imagined it.  
“A short splash with a hydrant or hose was always good enough! Ouch, watch it dude!” The mutant Turtle was tortured with cleaning devices. It was uncomfortable and so annoying to just sit here … in a warm tub with funny bubbles … everything was so bright and clean … the room was so big … damn who needed all of this fancy shit?  
  
“Phew, finally done” Cody exclaimed and stretched his back.  
“Can I come out now?” Yellow tried his best but he assumed his puppy eyes wouldn’t work since they were so ugly deformed. He wasn’t as easily offended by his looks like Red, he just didn’t like his whole being so it had barely anything to do with his looking. Still he was doing it, believing it worked it’s twisted magic only to be disappointed again.  
“Not yet … well, you have no hair to wash but enjoy yourself for a little while, I’ll take a quick shower myself and then we’re going to brush our teeth”  
“With that thing?!” The Turtle pointed at the brush on the cupboard near the tub that was used for his shell.  
“No, it’s a lot tinier. You’ll see“ Cody laughed and disappeared behind a thin wall. The room was not that big but it had separated parts with a huge tub and several shower cabins. The restroom looked even newer than the other rooms, like it wasn’t that old. Probably because of the former guests. They had a routine, eating together, training together and so on … it was really annoying.  
  
Annoying because he sat here in the bubbling water and the only thought his mind grasped was wondering what the original Turtles used to do here. Why did he still care? And why … was he trying so hard to imagine himself with his brothers in their position? He already felt out of place and the picture wouldn’t get any more appealing with them.  
They had betrayed him! They didn’t care about him! So why should he care? There was no reason he should feel bad now! So what if he lived here in the penthouse from now on and never saw them again? It was better for everyone anyway! So no hard feelings …  
  
Yellow stared at the water, listlessly poking the bubbles and leaning back, brooding over the recent happenings and how fast his short life turned around and around. As soon as he did that, there was a little jolt and suddenly the whole bottom became weird, swirling water up and becoming warmer. Damn he was going to be cocked alive! It was a trap!  
  
A very unmanly screech escaped his lungs and he tried to get out.  
“What happened?!” Cody had managed to bind a towel around his waist and stepped out of the cabin all wet.  
“You lying bastard, this thing is boiling me alive!” The Turtle kept screaming theatrically and waving his hands around as if he was drowning in an endless ocean although he could just stand up.  
“No, that … it’s a whirlpool function. It’s a massage with water, don’t panic“  
By now Cody stayed cool and talked in a calm manner to his friend. He had adapted pretty fast to Yellows inherited habit of exaggerating.  
  
“What’s massage?” Frozen in place, Yellow stared at the boy, half dangling over the edge of the tub.  
“It’s supposed to feel good … okay wait” Cody vanished once again only to return in swimming trunks.  
“Look, If it calms you down, I’ll do it myself first” The tub was large enough for more than one person, since it was also meant to be a spa but it was still a bit crumped with the big Turtle ( _a regular tub would’ve been just too small_ ) already in it. Luckily todays filtering system had already removed the dirt in the water. Though it felt still awkward. In a real swimming pool there was never a problem sharing it with the other Turtles but well, special cases called for drastic measures. “See? Nothing to worry about”  
  
It was more than just a bit awkward sitting together in that tub thing. Yellow was constantly avoiding the gaze of his host and was far from relaxing. He felt so bare.  
“Why do people do that?” He couldn’t stand the thought of a bunch of humans or whatsoever sitting together in a bubbling hot hole AND relaxing. It was too vulnerable and weird. So much body contact and … and … playing nice. Was that a normal thing to do for regular beings? Blue would freak at the lack of keeping your guard up.  
“Because it’s fun. Nothing compared to hot springs or a real shiatsu massage but still pretty good. Though I have a better and bigger whirlpool on another floor”  
“How much stuff do you even have here? Is that even necessary?” Yellow was surprised and confused at the same time. “And what’s that shizu thing?”  
“It’s called shiatsu. A Japanese massage method if I’m correct. A professional, robot or machine can perform it on someone to help with back pain and so on”  
“Ugh, that massage involves touching right? Gross”  
  
Now if he was honest, it really did feel kind of nice, now that he calmed down a bit. Still like boiling in a pot but on medium. Awkward but in a good way.  
“What’s so bad about it?” Cody’s tension had also lowered and he leaned back, hands behind his head.  
“Every time someone touched me it was meant to hurt. We don’t do … that stuff you guys did. That’s for weaklings. Touching someone with good intentions is just … Uh, I don’t know” The Turtle felt even more uneasy now, not liking to think about it further.  
  
“Well, it’s over now. From today on, everything is going to change for the better. I promise”  
“Really? How can you be so sure?”  
„Because I care about my friends and … I’m not like my uncle. Even though I still feel bad about that security device”  
“… It’s okay I guess. I don’t blame you”  
Both just enjoyed – or endured - the remaining time in silence, dealing with their own thoughts and relaxing. Neither of them a hundred percent sure if the other was really honest about their statement.  
  
  
  
  
The sun was already low and after Yellow had recovered from another torture which involved brushing teeth and standing model for new gear and clothes, Cody announced he would make for him, he mostly spent his time watching TV and eating snacks. Now he was pretty bored and occupied himself by exploring the building.  
  
The training area was neat. He wasn’t the person to volunteer when it was about training and all but he was bored to death and had a lot of energy to burn now. But he was sure his blue brother enjoyed it here due his visit. And Red would like the training simulation while Dante would be simply impressed with everything in the penthouse.  
  
“Shit” He was doing it again. Why was Yellow still thinking about his brothers? Why wasn’t he mad? The betrayal only made him sad. Funny how furious he was before and would’ve screamed bloody murder at them for what they did … now he was only wondering if they even thought about him like he did. If they missed him like he did. If they maybe regretted it.  
He was cloned with Michelangelo’s traits, still it was annoying how many of his weaknesses he obtained. He just couldn’t stay mad at them. Maybe because irony was such a ridiculous thing. They probably assumed their life was changing for the better if they got rid of him and now instead of dying a miserable death he was living in pure luxury compared to them. They still suffered from hunger and tried everything to survive while he was enjoying the last sunrays at the panorama window top floor with the amazing view. It almost felt like home. Calm and peaceful.  
  
Yet he had much less reason to laugh than before he was here. Yellow hadn’t noticed until now but the more he felt secure the less he was happy. Jealousy about the original Turtles was slowly replaced with guilt for his own brothers. Not even a day and he was already that weak. His pride didn’t know if he should return to them or even more so staying here. If he came back, what would they say? Would they be mad? Or rather if he did not return? All this drama and he just. Kept. Thinking. About. Those. TRAITORS.  
Screw them! Screw society! Who cared if he didn’t deserve all of this? Who decided that? He could just stay here and accept his new life. No need to feel bad about it! He had so many possibilities! He could do anything now! It was time to move on!  
  
  
“… Still bored though”  
Yellow was about to leave and look for Cody to see how he was doing but his not-so-ninja-senses were tingling, telling him something was off. Neither sniffing the air nor listening was doing any good so he looked around. The place was empty. Cody already assured him they were the only living beings in the whole penthouse. Maybe he only imagined it?  
“Too much paranoia for today”  
He decided to just go and play some of these video games. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, even if his reading skills were the level of a first grader. The day had already been stressing enough and he was starting to get tired of his recently acquired highly distrustful moody attitude.  
  
  
Irony and fate seemed to conspire against him.  
  
A loud noise above him drew Yellows attention again and he was sure that wasn’t Cody. It came from the roof and the boy was a few floors underneath, probably still tinkering on the gear and not noticing anything. So much to being careless and weak. Wasn’t that whole security thing supposed to … like … warn about intruders? Well, only one way to find out.  
“Okay, we’re only doing that for the food, nothing else, got it? Protecting the food is all that matters” He told himself while searching for the way to the rooftop. He had just made up his mind about his decision and now it was instantly put to the test. Hardy har har. Very funny.  
  
  
  
„This place is a maze!“ The Turtle finally found the way and was about to open the door when he realized something Cody told him this morning. That device around his ankle would allow him to go anywhere he wanted but the roof because for that, he had to be nearby. “Ugh, fuck it, at least that way he’ll notice”  
  
Prepared for the unpleasant tingling in his leg that somehow paralyzed him two times before, he stepped into the dim light and fresh air only to be greeted by a whole bunch of those stupid bonsai trees and …  
  
“Oh you gotta be kidding me” With huge eyeballs he looked at the intruders, not believing what was just happening. Damn how come he never noticed his life was such a confusing mess.  
  
This sucked hella mondo eggs.


	9. Decisions and Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation was unavoidable. Now all there is left is to make decisions and solve arguments. Hopefully Cody can help the brothers to form their bond once again, maybe even stronger than it was before ...

“What are YOU doing here?” Yellow hissed at the Turtles he used to call his brothers. Telling from the look on their faces they probably expected another reaction, not the one he gave them right now, his shocked expression faltered to anger. He took a couple steps back.  
  
“Oh I don’t know, rescuing you and take you home, maybe?” Red snarled in response, highly offended by his younger brother’s behavior. He should be grateful! They went through so much and he was playing hard to get! It took Dante so long to steal a ship and build that little device that shut down the security system. They spent the whole day preparing just for this coup, even full stealth mode like Dark Leo wanted _(okay the landing with the ship might have been a bit too loud),_ so what was the big deal?  
  
“Rescue? You eggheads think you’re rescuing me?!” He was now openly showing how upset he was. “After all you’ve done, you think I need YOU?!”  
“What are you talking about? We didn’t do nothing wrong!” Red roared as if he was competing with his brother’s anger.  
“That’s right, you did nothing! Absolutely nothing! You don’t care about me … you’re just here to make fun of me or something”  
“Right, ‘cause we just love pulling something like this for fun” Red probably rolled his eyes. Hard to tell with those buttoneyeballs of his.  
“Okay, that’s enough” Blue approached his brother with a stern gaze. “Why do you think we don’t care about you?”  
  
Yellow hissed again in a “As if you don’t know” manner and turned away, hoping Cody would just come and make them go away or something. He was almost sure Darius had sent them to get him back only for him to be sold again to make even more money.  
“Ya’all nothing but a bunch of traitors. That evil bastard promised you would come and rescue me after the auction. That this was a save and simple plan to get money. But nobody came. You guys only wanted to get rid of me because I’m the most useless. That’s why he wanted me to do it! Because I have no value! And of course there would be one mouth less to be fed”  
Yellow gathered all of his remaining pride to avoid crying in front of his brothers. But it seemed he was about to fail, according how strained his voice suddenly was. “So stop lying to me, saying you care”  
“I swear, we didn’t know about it! Darius never told us anything. He said he sent you on a mission and you would return. But when you didn’t, we looked everywhere for you. And you know we can’t harm Darius, as much as we want it” Dante tried to talk sense into his brother, with little success.  
“Lies!”  
“Mike –“  
„Don’t call me that!“  
  
„What is going on here?“  
Cody interrupted the conversation abruptly as he was right behind Yellow now, looking both surprised and displeased since someone hacked into his system.  
  
  
  
  
The table from breakfast this morning, that was pretty large and lonely back then, didn’t appealed like it anymore. Said table was crumped with four very large Turtle creatures and a, in comparison, very tiny Cody Jones.  
Three of them were awkwardly fumbling with their hands, tapping their tail on the ground or just staring holes in the ceiling while the fourth crossed his arms in frustration. With all that happened in just about 24 hours it was a wonder Yellow hadn’t snapped yet. So many different shapes of emotions and situations in such a short time … He was not smart or empathetic enough to understand this. He thought his brothers had betrayed him and now they claimed they didn’t know about anything.  
  
  
So what if this was true? What should that mean? And what was going to happen now?  
“… I don’t know how this is supposed to help. I don’t want brothers anymore” Like a pouting child, the yellow Turtle hissed and stuck his tongue out, constantly avoiding eye contact.  
“We already told you, we didn’t know about it!” Red slammed his fist on the table.  
“So what?! I don’t want to go with you, you don’t need me anyway!“  
“And why is that?” Their leader tried to stay calm, as overwhelming as this statement made him feel, the awful pounding in his chest growing further.  
“Because I’m the trashy leftovers! I was the last of us and you guys were created with traits like super strength, smartness and strategy or whatsoever and I’m just the mascot”  
“Is this what Darius told you? That bastard talks nothing but nonsense. You’re not trash” As emotionless as Dante looked on first sight, his brothers could tell how upset he sounded. It was a bit ironic because he was calling his brothers stupid, mostly Yellow, the whole time since they were created.  
  
“Bullshit” Yellow gritted his teeth, carving marks into his rather robust tongue, it hurt. Even if they were truly honest … he just couldn’t forgive. Though he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for them to say. Something more … something like …  
  
“I’m really sorry for what my Uncle has done so far” Cody tried to reconcile and ease the mood, also relieve himself from the guilt a little. “And I don’t think you’re worthless either, my friend”  
Yeah, now that was something that helped. And the gesture of his host, the soft touch of his hand, patting his arm in a comforting manner, which felt so much better. Better than being humiliated, punched or insulted. His brothers never showed him such kindness.  
“… Think, say or do whatever you want but I’m staying with Cody” Yellow suddenly declared, facing his leader with a stern gaze comparable to his.  
“So you’re replacing us with that pipsqueak?! What the shell, now who’s the traitor here!” Red rose from his chair, damaging the surface of the table as he was carving his claws into it, about to tackle his brother. “Is he your brother now?”  
“He’s my … friend. Yeah! And you can go suck eggs if you have something against it!” Yellow noticed how the anger of Red was mostly directed at Cody and protectively placed an arm in front of the boy, growling deep and just as aggressive as his big brother.  
If the situation wasn’t so serious, Cody would be really impressed – he still was – but he had to interfere somehow, before the situation got out of hand.  
  
“You little shit!” For someone his size it was really fast how the red Turtle jumped over, trying to hit their sworn enemy but instead clashing with Yellow, who threw himself so that they both rolled on the floor, roaring, clawing and trying to headlock the other.  
“Stop fighting guys! We can talk this out” Cody still gave his best to help them the pacifist way but if they didn’t calm down, he was forced to daze them. Even without Serling and the others he was still able to defend himself and his home effectively.  
“Enough!” Dark Leo gave Dante a silent sign and both separated them, Dante grabbing Yellow from behind, pulling him off of Red. “This is ridiculous! Why would you stay with the enemy, leave your own family behind?”  
The leader just didn’t understand. He couldn’t. As much as he forced his mind to, it just wouldn’t make sense to him.  
  
“Family? You – no, none of us – don’t even know what that means! We call us brothers but we don’t act like it! And why would I come with you? I’d rather die than returning to Darius Dun and I’m tired of the way we live, if you can even call it that!”  
That was the point. He snapped. The final drop that flooded the gates, making him not care about his pride and anger anymore, only letting this stupid liquid streaming down his ugly, scratched face, making his swollen and red eyes hurt even more.  
“I’d rather die … than go back to this hell. I don’t care if this is against our purpose. I’m tired of all this fucking shit! Just leave me all alone!”  
Yellow fought against the hold of his brother and eventually was able to flee, leaving the room as fast as he could and looking for a dark and hidden corner where he could wait for all the stress and overwhelming feelings to subside.  
  
  
  
“Mik – Uh … Wait!” Cody was worried for his new friend. The day just kept getting worse with every minute. But he was sure he wouldn’t leave the building since he already stated that he didn’t want to go. Which was a pretty fast decision. Even Leonardo’s clone still left after two weeks, without any major hesitation. “I hope he’s okay”  
He figured his new roommate needed time for himself. Running after him wouldn’t help if he was this upset now. Still he should look for him later to treat his injuries.  
  
  
“That was … damn” Though Red was breathing heavily he seemed very distraught now. It happened so fast, he wasn’t sure if he should be mad now or feel guilty for not only losing his temper but also attacking and hurting his brother. He couldn’t believe it. “Shit, I-I messed up”  
“What were you thinking?!” Dark Leo showed no sign of understanding either and pushed the big guy, threatening him with his sheer dominant aura “Is that how you show that you care, moron?!”  
Dante added “He wasn’t thinking, that’s the problem. Great, now he’s definitely never coming with us” and looked as if he was about to start a fight as well. Somehow the whole scenery felt like this happened way too often between the brothers.  
  
“Guys, stop! Really, it’s enough for today“ Cody rarely raised his choice but they wouldn’t take him serious if he didn’t step up now. “I think you all need to stay calm. This is exactly the reason why your brother is– okay look, first of all, I’ll treat your wounds and order some pizza and while I do that, you calm down and think of something”  
As he already figured, drastic problems called for drastic measures.  
“What?” Red barely had time to react as the boy directed him to the elevator, not knowing himself why he didn’t resist. Maybe because he was hungry and the promised pizza concealed his distrust. Or because he was grateful for the distraction.  
  
  
  
Dante and Blue simply followed silent, surprised and thoughtful. Dark Leo felt responsible for what happened and desperately tried to think of a way to fix this. He’d never admit, but he wished his original was here now so he could ask him for advice. Not being able to hold the team together and properly help his younger brother was making his chest hurt so bad he wanted to scream. Was this broken bond, if there was one in the first place, between this messed up family still savable? How? There was no time to sit down and meditate about this, he had to make a move now, even if he had no idea what he was supposed to do.  
  
“… I’ll go look for him, I know this place. You stay with Red”


	10. A strange word

Dark Leo searched the places he knew from his visit in the past but he soon realized his brother was nowhere to be seen.  
“Damn, now he can be stealthy or what?” Taking a deep breath he went to the next floor, using the stairs to not miss any possible hideout. This was definitely not part of the plan. Some great big brother and leader he was. His original would never fail like that. He had all this honor and kindness stuff while Blue, even though he learned how to share and equally treat his brothers, had absolutely no idea how a family actually worked. He did listen to Splinter back then … and kind of wished he could ask him for advice.  
Pathetic how much he felt like a lost child in the darkness, not knowing his path. So weak. So useless … his little brother had absolutely no idea how much Dark Leo actually related to him.  
  
Since he had been at the penthouse, staying with the original Turtles, Cody and their father he questioned everything. The task was simple. Their creator had formed them to destroy the Turtles, to obey Darius and to be nothing more than just monster, deadly bio-weapons, cruel and animalistic. And they never felt bad about it. Well, how could they? You can’t regret or miss something you never had or knew about. But seeing them all happy, friendly and caring for each other, being close and working as a team just … just moved something in his heart. At first he cursed it, thinking it was just a stupid weakness he inherited from Leonardo but now … ugh, he had no idea. Thinking about it further, wondering if he maybe should reconsider his behavior and actions, made his head hurt.  
They were literally created to be evil, what if there was some kind barricade that prevented them from changing their appointed nature?  
  
Screw that, he could think about it later. He had to make sure his brother was okay. They may be sick and twisted versions of the real Turtles but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. He did! He did care for his brothers! All of them! He really, really did but … it was so hard to show it. So hard to suppress his own frustration. So hard to ignore how much he didn’t understood what was going on.  
He was supposed to know everything. To lead his brothers! To make strategies and plans! He couldn’t admit there were so many things he still didn’t understand, so many things about life, about them … maybe it was his pride and lack of honor. If he was just honest for once to at least his brothers, if they just talked with each other, actually looked at each other and acknowledged themselves and the others, their flaws and abilities … maybe they could learn how to be a family. To be real brothers. To be more than just clones, not always comparing with the originals.  
  
  
“Mike … er … uhm … Hey! Where are you! I … I’m sorry okay? Come on! … Please“  
He was glad he learned a couple of manners due his stay here. Simple things like apologizing and saying please or thank you never occurred to them before. He still remembered Dante looking stunned after he thanked him for watering his bonsai once, while he was on a delivery mission, caught him in the act as Blue walked in.  
The normally quick witted genius had no idea how to respond and just stood there, making the situation very awkward and embarrassing. Well he made sure to never say or do something that reckless again … which made him wonder now why. It wasn’t so bad he was just … worried they would not take him serious anymore. He was the leader! A leader was respected and feared, never showing weakness. Being kind was a weakness. At least he kept telling himself that. And apparently that was wrong. So very wrong.  
  
“I’m an idiot. A huge fucking dumbass” He cursed, pausing in what felt like the hundredth room now, leaning against a wall and slowly sinking to the ground. “I’m neither a good leader nor a brother. I’m … I should’ve been the one enduring this. Not you. Nobody of my brothers. I should deserve it. A leader is responsible and I simply failed”  
He didn’t expect an answer. He just talked to himself because this awful feeling, probably a mixture of guilt, hurt pride and desperation, was devouring him from the inside.  
“I feel like I’m about to explode”, he mumbled, hand rubbing over his face, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. He was at an end. And realizing how clueless he actually was, even admitting it, made it worse.  
  
  
“I know that feeling”  
  
  
Dark Leo looked up, recognizing the voice, although it sounded cracked and hoarse. Now that he viewed his surroundings, he noticed he was in some kind of spa area. There were lots of plants, the usual panorama window on one side, multiple empty tubs and the smell of exotic shampoo lingered in the air. The ceiling was covered in jungle paintings, there were some weird statues in the corner, pillows and couches. Though the room was very big, it gave a nice and comfy presence away.  
  
Then he noticed it. The spiky shell peeped out between some plants, half buried with blankets and pillows.  
At first Blue wanted to call out for him or say something, anything, but he was almost afraid to do so, fearing he would fail again and say the wrong things. Maybe he should’ve stayed with Red and sent Dante. But then again, he was about to fight with the big guy as well and that did no good either.  
So he waited with a surprising amount of nervousness.  
  
Yellow gathered his remaining strength and left his secret place. If he had kept his mouth shut, his brother wouldn’t have noticed him. And he was mad! At least he should be. But he never heard his big brother, the best “example” of the four, as Darius mentioned once, admitting a weakness, on top of that apologizing and begging. That was nearly all he ever wanted to hear and didn’t know before. Not entirely but it was a start.  
“Are you hungry?” Like the stress eater he was, Yellow had grabbed some fruits on his way here, holding it tight to him as he slowly crawled over next to Blue, handing him an orange.  
  
It was his best attempt to start a conversation and avoiding the problem at the same time.  
“Actually, yes … uhm, thanks” The leader accepted the gift and took a bite, eating the peel as well and not minding the juice that dripped down his chin as he did so.  
“… I don’t understand why you left this place. I thought you did it because it was your job”, the younger one tried to avert the main topic.  
“I didn’t leave because I hated this place, if you mean that. I left because of you guys. We belong together”  
“Even if that meant leaving a carefree life without hunger and worries behind?”  
“Yes. I don’t care how or where we live, I’m never leaving you behind. That’s my purpose”  
“I thought your purpose was keeping us in line and do the strategy and planning stuff?”  
“Maybe, I don’t know. I was the one that gave me this task. Nobody else”  
“Now that sounds like something a leader would do”  
“… No, more like a big brother” Blue swallowed the rest of the fruit and turned towards Yellow. “That means … if you still want me to be yours”  
The latter gulped, not expecting this talk to become so … weird and deep. “Well … only if you tell me why”  
“Because I … uhm … I care about all of you”  
“Why?”  
“Because … we’re a team”  
“That’s not an answer”  
“Because we’re family?”  
“And~?”  
“Damn, okay I … uhm” Dark Leo was a t a loss of words. What else was there he wanted to hear? Except … oh “Okay, okay! I care about you, because we’re brothers, because we’re a family … and … you’re important to us, to me”  
“Why?”  
“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, DAMNIT!” Blue finally screamed, grabbing his brother by the shoulders and shaking him, closing his eyes out of embarrassment. He’d never thought in his life he would ever say this stupid word. But when he noticed Yellow’s sniffing, making him open his eyes again, he figured, maybe he should’ve said it sooner instead.  
  
Yellow didn’t know he was even capable of crying so much. It just kept leaking out of his fucking eyesockets.  
“I guess … I never wanted to hear anything more than that” Before Dark Leo was able to react further, his brother crushed him in a tight hug. It took the older a few moments to adjust and return the gesture, though he felt a bit awkward doing so, not used to such things. “I love you too”  
Just saying this word was so unusual, it was like an unknown language coming out of their mouths, funny, strange and surreal.  
  
“Okay, you can let me go now, we don’t want to overdo it” Still holding on to his pride, Blue shoved his brother carefully away, smearing a hand over his face to wipe the tears, though it looked just as awkward like the hug. “So you forgive us?”  
“I forgive YOU, but I want Dante and Red to apologize as well. If they do, we’re all good” Yellow cracked one of his mischievous smiles, giggling at the image in his head of the others feeling just as weird and embarrassed as the leader. But there was still something bothering him. “After that … You can rescue me and we …”  
“We won’t go back, if you think that”  
“We won’t?”  
“No. Darius can rot down there if he wants. We may not be able to harm him, but we’re not his toys”  
“So … what are we doing instead?”  
“Honestly, I don’t know. We have to figure something out”  
„Sooo until that happens … are we staying here? Cody wouldn’t mind”  
“Yeah, I bet he wouldn’t”  
  
  
Both sat a moment in silence, sharing the fruits that were left and just enjoying the company. At least until Blue reminded them there was still something to do  
“We should head back to the others”  
“Why, are you worried?”  
“Don’t push it, Smileyface”  
  
Yellow huffed and turned away “Not very creative, bro”  
Seriously what was it with the names? Yeah, it was a bit complicated to talk but … ugh, not again. Just forget it. He just got over his mental breakdown from before.  
“Besides …” The younger clone Turtle stood up, imagining how he could ask him.  
“Yes?” Maybe he hesitated too long. Blue was already up again too, expecting him to continue.  
“… Nothing. ‘S not important. We got business to do”  
  
Yellow scratched his head, immediately regretting it, as he touched a fresh scratch from the fight with Red. But really, it was stupid. Asking the leader “ _If you could choose a name or nickname for yourself … which would you pick?”_  
It was pretty dumb.  
“Okay then” Raising an eyebrow, the older lead the way back, deciding it was still too inappropriate to persuade him. Though they were able to solve most of their issues, Blue assumed his brother was still not fully stable. It was the first time he ever freaked out like this, yet Yellow was always the type to ignore or avoid something, pushing down his feelings and distracting himself from the real problem.  
  
Still, Dark Leo was amazed how quick he forgave him. It must’ve been just a couple of minutes, maybe half an hour. He said he knew that feeling. But did he already explode?  
“I think it was this way” Said Turtle pointed in another direction, startling Blue.  
  
  
Or maybe his brother was just a far better person than they were originally destined to be. Hopefully that privilege was meant for him, Dante and Red too.


	11. Agreement

“So, all fixed now” Pleased with his work Cody cleaned the desk. The injuries weren’t that big of a deal, so he just bandaged them and, because Red seemed to like them, put a few patches with cats and cartoon figures on his arms. Though Cody normally never really treated injuries on his own, always using technology, he was proud to be able doing it on his own.  
  
Instead of saying thank you, Red only looked at the pretty bandages, slightly poking at one on his knuckles.  
“Now with that settled, we have to wait for Blue. Hopefully he can knock sense into him” Dante mused, his tail patting impatiently the ground. He felt uneasy, yet still would like to have a closer look at all the tech he spotted in almost every corner of the penthouse. They lived in such modern and advanced times and yet he had to endure an uncultured life in ruins of old sewers, with antique and recycled equipment.  
“Blue?” Cody overheard and just had to ask. “How come you’re the only one with a proper name, Dante?”  
  
“How do you know my name?!” Dante knew, their leader had said earlier that he should stay with Red, but his name was never mentioned.  
“Well, your brother told me this morning. But before I could ask he had another of his … episodes, I guess. He said you guys don’t do names” The young CEO was right after all. They couldn’t possibly live together and properly communicate without having at least a nickname to address each other.  
“We don’t. It was his idea. And we had nothing better to do. I choose this name because it is based on the letters of Donatello’s name and it’s Italian” Danny looked over to his brother, who was confused.  
“I thought our names are the same as the Turtles, only with an added Dark and our colors are just nicknames”, Red said.  
“No you moron, we –“  
  
“So you just haven’t decided yet and therefore your names are Dante, Red, Blue and …” Cody deescalated the situation before it even started and counted the names.  
“It doesn’t matter how you call him, he’s always mad. But Yellow doesn’t bother him that much, since it’s his skin color” The evil genius had no idea why he was talking with their enemy. But since they had nothing better to do anyway he figured, if his little brother trusted this boy and wanted to stay with him, in order to get on his good side again, he should at least try to play nice for now.  
“Blue called him Mike …”  
“That’s only because he doesn’t mind being called Leo or Leonardo and tends to do the same with us in heated situations”  
“Man, that’s really complicated” Cody massaged his temples and sat down on a sofa.  
Red huffed “Tell me ‘bout it. I’m the only one who don’t cares”  
“Doesn’t care” Dan corrected him.  
“Shut up Brainiac!”  
“How come you can curse like a sailor correctly but a normal sentence is a struggle for you?”  
“I’ll show you struggle!”  
  
Cody couldn’t help himself but think of his friends, the Turtles, while he watched the scene. Though it was nice to see them in some way again, he couldn’t help but feel sad. They weren’t THE Turtles. They were different. Now that he spend so much time with the clones he started to understand what Yellow meant all along. They weren’t the same. Even if they sounded and behaved in a way like the other Turtles from the past, it wasn’t them. He missed his friends. He still felt lonely. A part of him hoped they would stay here. Without Splinter, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo it was so quiet. But without Serling it was very hard. The robot raised him, cared for him and was the only person he had been really able to talk to, besides Darius. Now he was completely without guidance, only able to trust on himself … not to mention his only other friend, Starlee, was on his home planet with her family for an unknown time period and unknown reasons. Nobody to ask for help or advice.  
He sighed heavily.  
  
  
“Perfect timing, I guess” Aware of the other Turtles joining, Dante and Red stopped arguing. Blue and Yellow stepped in, both looking rather relaxed, which eased the tension.  
“Good to see you guys are fine” Cody referred to his friend, looking up again. “Who would’ve thought I’d have to treat you again that soon”  
“At least I delivered some good punches too” Yellow smirked at Red, who was still unsure how to act in front of his brother. Though he was sorry, the little brat made it really difficult to maintain his temper.  
“Whatever” In the end he decided to just ignore the taunting. He was too hungry and tired for this. “And what are we going to do now?”  
“I was about to ask the same question” Dan crossed his arms, not minding Cody’s dazzled expression while he pulled Yellow – who also seemed surprised – over to the desk and started to treat the wounds himself.  
  
“We had the agreement to stay here for now. At least until we have a better solution” Telling from the looks on Dante’s and Red’s faces they were not really convinced. “We won’t go back to the lair until we got rid of Darius. And tactically this is the best option”  
“Plus we get lots of food!” Yellow interrupted, again trying his odd puppy eyes, this time on his genius brother. “And I bet you would like to have a look at all the tech stuff, Danny”  
Said one was stunned how calm but also full of energy his brother suddenly was. Earlier he said he didn’t want brothers anymore and now he was calling him by his made up nickname. “… It’s worth a try, if even Blue agrees”  
“Wait, so now we are playing nice? First we’re stuck with that Dun asshole and now we’re here with his nephew, pretending to get along?!” Red wasn’t satisfied with their leader deciding for all of them, while he highly disagreed. He didn’t trust that boy either. Who said this wasn’t going to be just as shitty like staying with the other human? It was a trait that had to be passed on from Raphael.  
“We’re not pretending. Do you have a better idea?” Growling, Blue confronted his brother.  
  
„Woah, wait wait wait!“ Cody, the owner of this penthouse and host, in case they forgot, stepped between those two. “I have enough of your constant mood swings and fighting. First off, don’t decide something like this without asking me – not that I would’ve denied but that’s just rude. Secondly, if you want to stay here you have to behave yourself and respect my rules!”  
“See? There’s already a downside on this agreement!” Red insisted. “That old factory with the warehouse wasn’t so bad”  
“It was insufferable” Dante immediately responded. “I can live under such conditions, we had far worse circumstances to endure”  
“Come on, Red. It’s not so bad, even with all that bathing and brushing” Yellow suppressed a hiss when Dan disinfected a scratch on his cheek and kept giving them his pleading gaze. He didn’t expect them to do the same like Blue, though it would be nice if they apologized, but if they were okay with staying here, it would already make him happy enough.  
Happy, like he never ever had been before. He wouldn’t feel guilty or jealous anymore and most of his stress and problems were solved in the blink of an eye.  
  
“Fine, do what you want, I don’t care!” Red huffed and turned away, ending the conversation on his side.  
“I guess it’s … uhm … a deal now?” Cody was okay with this start. He had achieved so much today, he couldn’t complain. At first he thought only had to care for Mikey’s clone but now all four of them were here. The remaining issues could be taken care of on another day.  
“Yes, pizza for everyone!” Yellow cheered, startling Dante, who almost got slapped in the face.  
  
  
  
Oh how Cody wished the other Turtles or Serling were here right now.  
  
  
  
“Give it back, you have your own pizza!” Yellow complained, having his slice taken away directly out of his claws from Red.  
Dante, on the other hand, took it from Red but instead of returning it to his younger brother took a huge bite. Blue grabbed it practically before he could swallow it, thinking if he should just eat it himself or give it to Yellow but ending up with Red biting him instead, simply devouring it without minding the already messy paws of their leader.  
To sum this situation up, it was like predators fighting over every last tiny edible piece. Cody made sure to order two Pizzas for everyone and most of it was gone in seconds, the side dishes such as fruits and chips, also taken care of in between. The whole dining area was a mess and the Turtle clones mostly rolling on the floor, fighting or more like stealing from each other.  
The once so clean and good smelling Yellow was sticky and dirty again, not to mention the other three. And everything else in this room, except him.  
  
“I need way more cleaning robots” Cody mumbled, poking at his salad. He already resigned and handed over his own pizza in favor to not also be included in this chaos. To think about how this may become a daily routine overwhelmed him a little. Taking care of one was already very VERY difficult, but four? How was he going to do that all by himself? If he couldn’t make it … the peace keepers would come and imprison them for harder safety measures. Let alone they didn’t even know he had intended from the beginning to do just that. Still he had imagined this to be a bit easier back then. To add, he made this decision while Serling and the Turtles were still here, shortly after the talk with Mikey.  
  
He wished to have more time to think of a better strategy to handle these new circumstances, but the brothers wouldn’t let him.  
“I swear if you don’t keep your filthy hands to yourself I’m dissecting you, you uncultured swine!”  
“Bring it on! – Hey, give it back!”  
“Finders keepers, losers!”  
  
  
  
  
  
_“It seems this place is empty. I wonder were these abominations of clones may be?” Darius asked himself, wandering the abandoned lair, still furious about the failed deal. The absence of his minions made him assume they were involved in this incident. Ever since he got rid of the filthy most useless the other were highly aggressive towards him. He was shielded through his hypnotic armor and other charms he always made sure to wear, so they couldn’t hurt him physically, but he had no real control over them._  
  
_“Hmpf, it was just a matter of time until they start to think they have any worth or free will” Pacing through his ‘office’ he tried to think of a way to solve this inconvenience. Even if he had no real purpose for them except being guards, only good enough to fulfill his missions – that means, if they even succeeded – he needed them. The Street Phantoms were weakened and Jammerhead was still under arrest. He had to form a plan._  
  
_“Perhaps I do need a bit extra suggestions” Darius Dun’s devilish grin grew wider, as he shoved a rotten door aside, showing a large metal box. “If a toy doesn’t work quite right, it can be indeed helpful to read the manual and eventually reboot the system”_  
 _It was unavoidable, someday the time just had to come were he had to use the gift that Sh’Okanabo gave him as addition. The payment for those kanabo-clones was already too expensive for his liking, but with this, though it unnecessary complicated everything, the Ex-CEO of O’Neil Tech would set all things right._  
  
_Those traitorous Turtlescums would soon wish to never have disobeyed their rightful owner. Oh, and they would pay for it, that was for sure. Slavery was nothing compared to **this** …_  
 _“Enjoy your time, fools. As soon as I complete this and find out where you are hiding your ugly sorry shells, I will …” He didn’t finish. Just the thought made him chuckle deep and mischievous as he opened the box and unwrapped it's content._


	12. Nothing like them

“Yellow, stop eating the soap! It smells like cherry, but it does not taste like – Red, hold on, you’re going to flute the tub!” Cody looked pleadingly at Dante and Blue, but they just sat in their own tubs, the genius reading something on his digital holo-tablet ( _waterproof of course_ ) and the leader silently enjoying the bubbling warm water. “Come on guys, we’ve been over this already!”  
  
It was over two weeks now and even if they slowly obtained a routine, some things wouldn’t change that easily. Somehow, after exploring the whole penthouse so many times, there still were things that amazed them. Especially Red and Yellow.  
Maybe Cody should’ve been more explicit while listing the house rules. But oh well, here he was now, babysitting four giant Turtles and questioning his recent life decisions every once in a while, especially in situations like these.  
  
“One may think after the tenth time they should be used to it by now, but no” Cody gave up and went under his shower. Wearing swim clothes, bathing and brushing teeth together wasn’t as awkward as it had been the first times. He was already used to share his daily doings with the original Turtles, but it was obvious Blue, Red, Dante and Yellow needed more guidance.  
It was strange how much changed with them since. While he felt like he had four older brothers and a father figure with the personas from the past, today it felt like he suddenly became the older brother. Reconcile fights, teaching manners, planning ahead.  
  
He had been grocery shopping, ore more like ordered them online. It turned out each of them had their own favorite food besides hobbies.   
Of course Yellow liked pizza, oranges and juice. He also noticed how the youngest had trouble reading and writing, so they spend the evenings with reading a book together. Teaching wasn’t so easy, with such a sensitive student. But he enjoyed playing games just like Michelangelo, making it a little easier to handle him.  
Blue favored tea, Japanese or Chinese takeout and did mostly the same things he did his last visit, training, meditating, watching TV and he also seemed to highly enjoy the spa area and the roof, maybe because of the plants at those places. Though he wasn’t as talkative as Yellow with Cody, he never minded having him around, though he never left his guard down.  
Dante was just like Donatello, only a bit more cynical and sarcastic. He liked coffee, sweets, technology and usually spent his time with reading books, different types of media and occupied himself. But he did mind having Cody near his brothers, not fully trusting, or more like stuyding, him. He seemed very protective of Yellow, but not having enough patience to teach him, even if he wanted to do it himself.  
Red, on the other hand, was the most mysterious. He never really showed any signs of favorite food or activities. Most of his time he just watched random TV programs or trained while Blue wasn’t in the simulation. The big guy rarely interacted with any of them, perhaps still feeling guilty towards Yellow and mad at the leader for deciding against his will. He did not seem to trust Cody a little, pretending to ignore him but always eying the boy from afar whenever he was with one of his brothers.  
  
However, they did certain things together. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Spa, watching movies and playing games. Well, sometimes. It was hard since Yellow preferred Disney, Marvel and Cartoons, while Red wanted to watch Sport Shows, Blue had no specific taste and was hard so satisfy in general and Dante had a thing for Horror, Occult, Thriller and Anime – as surprising as that was.  
  
“I think I’m gonna vomit” Yellow complained, his tongue dangling out of his mouth, foam covering his lips.  
“If you had listened, you wouldn’t have eaten the soap” Dan simply noted without a hint of empathy.  
“Shut up Danny!” Without thinking about it further, Yellow shoved his hand in the water and soiled a huge amount of it towards his brother across the room, unintentionally hitting the tablet. It fell in the genius’ tub, not being damaged but still pushing Dante’s buttons.  
“You will regret this” With unnecessary force the purple Turtle swung his tail under water, causing another wave, flushing across the gap between the tubs, making the floor all wet and hitting Yellow. And also Red and Blue in the progress.  
“Oh, it’s on!” Red instantly joined the fight, targeting both his younger brothers. Also hitting Blue.  
  
“You better stop, or –“ Blue wasn’t even able to finish, he was hit _again_ by Yellow this time, who thought it was quite funny, not taking it as serious like the other two. “I’ll give you three seconds, you idiots!”  
“He started it!” Dante defensed himself, not being used to be included in their leaders threats since he was normally the calm and collected one.  
“I don’t care who started, I’m the one ending it!” Growling, Blue showed his dominance, half standing up, only to be hit yet **again** by Red, completely on purpose. “That’s IT!”

  
“What is it this time?” Cody asked himself, sighing in defeat as if he was a single middle aged mother with four kids making nothing but trouble. He knew he had to do something but last time he could relax a little was … oh yeah, over two weeks ago. “Maybe I should let them handle this on their own for once”  
He didn’t even need to hear that following riot to immediately know better.  
Turning the shower off, Cody went back to the area were the Turtles started another one of their fights.  
  
“Okay, what is going on he –  ah!” Cody slipped on the wet floor and was sliding about two meters, before he collided with one of the plants.  
All four Turtles noticed the crash and winced simultaneously, seeing their host on the floor, covered in mud and leaves.  
“Ouch, I bet that hurt”, Yellow mentioned before bowing down to Cody and poking him. “Are you dead?”   
The strained groan answered his question.  


  
  
“Thank you” Cody was conscious again, retrieving a bag of Ice to cool his head from Dante. The genius was no real medic but he was the only one of them to know what to do.  
“It’s only a bump on the head and a few bruises, nothing serious” The latter stated. They had cleaned him up – or well, Red had dunked him quickly in one of the pools and carried him to one of the couches. Blue had brought a bunch of towels and now they were sitting in a circle around him, staring at the human awkwardly, not knowing what to do.  
  
Even if Cody should be mad at them, it was kind of cute how they sat here, eyes wide in childish insecurity.  
“Sorry, it’s my fault. I started it” Stunning his brothers by taking full responsibility for his deeds, Yellow gave his best puppy eyes – which weren’t that ugly or disturbing anymore, once you got used to it.  
“You know, it’s fine, could be worse” Cody appeased his friend. “But please, at least try to behave yourself more. I can’t leave you guys alone for ten minutes, how am I supposed to lead a company then? I have meetings and banquets, I can’t be around all the time”  
“Meetings and banquets?” Yellow looked guilty but what he said made him wonder what exactly Cody meant.  
“Yes about that … I wanted to talk to you guys about it for a while now. I have to go to O’Neil Tech from time to time. Some things can’t be done with home office. Like tomorrow”  
“Can’t we come with you?”  
“Shut it Doofus, Mr. High and Mighty definitely won’t drag us with him. We only ruin his image” Red interjected  
“No, it’s not like that! I just didn’t tell anyone about it yet –“  
“Because?” Red sounded nearly threatening as he stepped closer.  
Before Cody could say something, Blue interfered: “Stop bitching around, he’s the one being hurt, not you”  
“Guys, I swear if you fight again …” Danny looked at his older brothers, shoving them away from Yellow and the young CEO who stayed behind as they left the room.  
  
  
“Will they ever get along?” Cody asked more himself than the other mutant.  
“I told you, we’re nothing like them” Yellow reminded him, looking at his feet, sulking. “I guess that’s why you wouldn’t tell us about going to a party or meeting”  
“Wait, you think I’m ashamed of you? No! It’s … it’s just complicated. I told you, you guys are kind of grounded right now until we catch Darius. Because if we’re able to imprison him, he gets a trial for his crimes. And I can finally make a deal with the police, er – Peace Keepers”  
“And what happens after that?” Yellow simply plopped on the ground, his tongue hanging out as if Cody was telling him a fairy tale.  
“Well, all of you will be accepted as true citizens of New York. You’ll get an ID – which means a true identity with all the information – and your free to go wherever you want … If you behave of course”  
“That sounds boring”  
“Why?”  
“Because we would have to follow the law and stuff. It’s tough to be a criminal but … I don’t know, that ID thing is creepy. Why does being normal have to be so complicated?” The Turtle only understood half of the things his friend just told and he was already sick of it. Though it would be cool to walk around in the open, he never was the type to just hang with normal people since they were all used to stay hidden in the shadows. Mostly because their genes made them quite uncomfortable in sunlight. The only other people they encountered were bad guys like them at night or dark corners.  
  
“Hm, maybe you change your mind if you experience it firsthand. An ID doesn’t mean you actually have to do the same others do. I mean, I’d be nice if you guys would make friends, have hobbies or find a job someday, but that’s too rushed right now. For now we have to stick with baby steps”  
“And that means?”  
“Until you haven’t learned how to clean yourself without making a mess and developed healthy eating habits, I can’t take you to a party”  
“… Bold of you to assume a real party goes like this” Yellow pouted and stood up again. But all Cody did was laughing at this joke, or so the human assumed  
“As much as I like to talk more about our different expectations of parties, I really have to get back to work” Though he was a little shaky on his legs, Cody stood up, determined to get dressed up and finally be productive.  
“Are you okay now?” Scratching his head, the Turtle eyed his friend with a slight hint of concern, rather unusual for his past persona. He changed a lot. It was strange to notice since Cody never actually paid much attention to it, simply picturing Michelangelo in his head whenever he did something typical. But at the same time he was very different and individual.  
  
“Yes, I’m fine. A little headache never killed somebody” Cody assured and patted the spiky shell, offering an encouraging smile. “But I would really, really appreciate it if you make sure your brothers don’t cause any further trouble for today. If you can do that, I – maybe – have a surprise for you”  
“Surprise? What is it?! Is it something to eat?” Yellow immediately shouted, not knowing how much he acted like his original right now.  
“The thing about a surprise is keeping it one” Cody laughed and left, ending the conversation.  
Really unpleased with this outcome Yellow was pouting again “Now who’s the bad guy here! Meanie!”  
  
  
  
  
“A surprise?” Danny raised a nonexistent eyebrow while he was listening to his little brother.  
“Yes! He said if we don’t cause trouble today, he’ll reward us. _Maybe_ ”  
Both of them looked like schoolgirl talking about the newest gossip in school, debating if that surprise could be worth trying to play nice or if it was just a bluff. It would be much easier to decide if they knew what surprise their host meant.  
“I hate surprises” Blue mumbled to himself, sitting on the couch with crossed arms.  
“Huh, maybe it’s something like that thing around your ankle. You know, fashion, havin’ matching looks, locking all of us in here …” Red listed sarcastically, leaning against a wall on the other side of the large room.  
“He wouldn’t do that” Yellow responded, but not convinced himself.  
“Why? Ain’t like he ever made an effort to put that thing off” The biggest of them snarled, giving his genius brother a daring look to correct his spelling.  
“Well he … uhm … He …”  
“You said you want to stay here! Now we’re all here and you still have it!”  
Yellow didn’t know what to say anymore. Sure, Cody could’ve take it off by now. And it made no sense for only one of them to wear it. Either none or … all of them. Maybe because they wouldn’t leave without him? Scary how there had been a short period of time when he would laugh at that thought, denying such a silly assumption. It just made him more relaxed now, knowing it indeed was true. Yet it was another question if he wouldn’t be even more upset if they really got trapped in here only because of him.  
  
“He would never do that. He’s too nice for his own good. He’s alone and we’re four teenage mutant clone Turtles” Dan interrupted, trying to give his brother a somewhat supporting pat on the head. “If he ever betrayed our trust, he wouldn’t survive it. We can’t hurt Darius but him and he knows that”  
“Talking about that shithead, you know they’re related. What if nothin’ changed at all, us still bein’ slaves, only under new lead?!”  
"Woah, guys, don't you think you're overacting a little?" Yellow was torn between them, wanting to keep his side of the deal with Cody and prevent any further fights.  
“First of, I’m the leader, moron. Second, you know that little goody-two-shoes. And also: If you don’t trust him, why did you help him earlier?”  
As always, Blue solved any arguing, helping the youngest unintentionally and confronting Red with a fact the latter couldn’t simply leave unanswered.  
“That was … I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking! Ugh, forget it, I’m outta here” Still grumbling, Red left, heading for the training floor.  
  
“Always so sensitive” Yellow commented grinning. “Have you noticed his strong accent?”  
“It was there before but he’s watching too much of these sport shows” Though Dan was surprised how his brother’s vocabulary had increased. He actually never talked much because they didn’t really hang out back at the old lair.   
“Still, he’s not the only drama queen here” Their leader mocked them and turned the TV on.  
“Said the one who’s first argument was ‘ _excuse me bitch, but I’M the leader here’_ ” Yellow grinned, sticking his tongue out.  
“That’s right, you're always acting like you’re better than us while being nothing but a tsundere” Danny stated, high fiving with Yellow and laughing.  
“Hardy har. Very mature” Normally Blue would’ve punched them, but he was curious about that surprise and thought of it as a challenge to maintain his cool and therefore used his meditation training to keep a clear mind. But his brother’s made it pretty difficult, since their laughter didn’t worn off.  
  
At least until Yellow interrupted himself “Wait, what’s tsundere?”


	13. Facts

“Well I’m surprised. You guys really managed to behave yesterday“ Cody announced, impressed and feeling like a proud parent. No broken furniture, no fighting, no yelling. He wished it could be like this every day.  
“Shouldn’t we be the one getting a surprise~?” Yellow hinted, grinning mischievously.  
“Very subtle of you, Smiley” Blue said, mouth full with cereal and earning odd looks from the others. Right, they never heard him calling Yellow that. He always wanted to say the name of his original. To him it was as if they were them. It felt so natural. He was glad Danny and Red had the same ring to the original Turtles in a way. But Yellow was just so ... strange for him It didn’t feel right.  
  
“Uhm, anyway … I was thinking and I decided to take you with me to the gala tonight” Cody simply told them without making a big fuss and already expecting a cheer. But instead he only gained confusion.  
“But you said we’re not allowed” Red huffed skeptical.  
“Yeah, we’re grounded” Yellow added, a little dazzled by Blue’s comment. He didn’t mind nicknames from his brothers but he still wasn’t used to it. He started to feel like it wasn’t just about him being compared to Michelangelo. It was just that regardless what he was called, nothing felt right. It was so easy picking a name for Dante, why was it so hard for him to accept?  
  
“Well, in the past I never asked for permission in any matter with the peace keepers. And I’m the CEO of O’Neil Tech, therefore I have the right to give and deny permission to bring with me who I want” Said CEO was purposely leaving the fact, that he also brought Splinter and the others with him and did things against the Peace Keepers will many times before. It was obvious to them but still better unspoken. This was about only these four now and not their counterparts.  
“Damn, a real party! I can’t believe it. What’s it going to be like? Is there lots of food?!” The youngest was already hyped, completely forgotten his cereal which was snugged by Red in a blink of an eye.  
“It’s a business party, it’ll be boring as hell” He said, taking the whole bowl with his big hands and drinking the content like he saw that beast from the Disney movie doing it, that his little brother seemed to enjoy more than he wanted to show everyone else. It was a good idea from Dante though. Starting a movie marathon really prevented any eventual arguments last evening.  
“At least with more cultivated company” Dan commented, burping after it, making the others laugh. Except Blue.  
“As if. Do you really think they will simply come to us for small talk and shit? We’ll be lucky if our mere presence won’t crush the party”  
Silence followed as the laughter subsided.  
  
“I can assure you, nobody will cast you out. It’s not 2035 anymore, there will be aliens, humans and other mutants even bigger than you guys” Cody assured, giving an encouraging smile.  
“It’s not the same. We’re Kanabo clones and as far as I know, neither clones nor the Kanabo species is very welcome on earth” Blue hated to remind his brothers of a fact they likely would forget. Sure they were made with mutated genes of their originals, but it didn’t change the fact that they were mostly made of alien DNA. They had the same strength, appetite and, unfortunately, disabilities like sunlight and an animalistic nature. Shell they barely looked like Turtles, it wasn’t that hard to notice every goddam day he looked in the mirror. And he certainly didn’t care how much he sounded like his original.  
Sighing, Cody lowered on his seat again. “Yes, you have a point, but that’s exactly why I decided against the chief’s order. Clones aren’t the one to blame and I already knew what I would bring myself into by letting you live here. I promise, I take responsibility and everything will be okay. Don’t you trust me, Blue?”  
Said one was silent for a moment, not answering or giving away any sign of expression.  
“We are a team, so if all of you want to go, I won’t stand in your way” He finally declared and stood up, knocking the chair over as he did so. It was hard to tell what was going on in his head at this moment. However, his brothers knew this mood well enough to not mess with him right now, so they left him be.  
“Oh, **now** we are a team and our opinions matter” Red snarled, earning a hit on the head from the genius’ tail.  
  
  
  
For Blue, this matter was much more complicated. Truth was, he didn’t know himself what to think either. Trust was a big thing for him. The only ones he trusted were his brothers and only as much as he could throw them. Which was, even for his Kanabo-strength, not very far. He was sure they would be treated like outcasts. He heard of his creator’s failures to invade the earth and turn everyone into his drones. They were much more evolved than these mindless monsters, but who cared for such minor facts? They would judge them, they would fear them, they would never mind to even try understanding them. And what angered him to no end was the fact that he’d do exactly the same in their place. Why bother trying to understand someone you didn’t know? Heck he didn’t even wanted to meet other people. He didn’t care about any of them and playing nice in favor to get new friends or whatever. He had no dreams or goals to achieve, all he wished for was … being alive and his brothers safety. Every try to be selfless only made him question his existence, it was so frustrating.  
  
“Trust … What next? Us being the next heroes of New York?” Blue paced around the room he was sleeping in since they arrived here. It was unnerving. Why the hell would he ever give a fuck? Sure his nature changed a little … much … since he spent time with the original Turtles and Splinter. But something in his chest was still throbbing, aching with so much refuse as if he was constantly moving against a streaming river, too stubborn to just go with the flow and give up but yet too weak to cross it and fight against the drift. Not knowing what to do and clashing with his inner nature was exhausting. Remorse was eating him from the inside. Blue wanted to be a good brother and leader, did not even mind being similar with Leonardo at it. Still he felt humiliated and restless pretending it was okay for him to just welcome society and to be a total good person now all of a sudden.  
It was literally in his genes. They weren’t humans. Not even real creatures. On the inside was just a bunch of purple goo, nothing else. Created to destroy. And not doing what you were made for and not knowing what to do instead was like adding fuel in a barrel, drip by drip. And one day all it needed was a spark to explode. Just for how long could he keep suppressing this unnamed feeling?  
  
“I won’t make friends or whatsoever. I’ll do it for my brothers, that’s it. We only had each other from the start and we definitely don’t need anything else now” Nodding to himself he crossed his arms and stopped pacing in the middle of his room. If the others wanted to go and have fun, who was he to stand in their way? That didn’t mean he had to enjoy and look forward to it though.  
  
  
  
  
“These things are so itchy! I don’t want to wear them!” Yellow scratched the strange fabric on his arms, accidently tearing the sleeve off from the jacket. Not like his spiky shell already poked holes in it on the back. Cody had offered them plain black suits with ties matching their skin color, but their bulky figure made it almost impossible to wear them, even with the specifically custom-made design. Red only had to flex his muscles and take a deep breath to make the suit burst full Hulk style ( _which he totally did on purpose_ ), while Dante was constantly fumbling his pants because his tail felt evaporated. Only Blue had no problems, but he refused to wear shoes and get a manicure, since he had no claws like his brothers but nails in a pretty bad shape. His tie was loose and the jacket was open, sleeves rolled up and though the suit was neat and tidy before, the clothing now creased and messy.  
  
“Why do we even have to wear these things?” Red’s suit was hanging in shreds from his body. At least he could move now.  
“We can’t just go naked. And appearing with gear only makes us look more threatening” Dan explained, ripping the hole wider for his tail, only his belt avoiding the pants from falling off now.  
“It’s not like we look less unfriendly without weapons” Blue commented, eating an apple, it’s juice running down his cheek, dripping and leaving stains on his clothes.  
  
If you listened very carefully you could hear something whine and crumble in Cody’s thoughts. He spent all night designing them and thinking they would be happy about it, his efforts finally being recognized. But no such thing happened. He should’ve known better by now.  
Yet he couldn’t help hiding his face behind his hand and silently counting to ten. These Turtles were worse than kids, he was going to be bald in less than a year if it was going to stay this way.  
Yellow noticed the tiny outburst of despair “You okay, Cody?”  
But he got no answer.  
  
  
  
  
  
“Alright guys, this is our very first trip. And your very first party. I want you to stay together and nearby as good as possible. Try not to break anything, cause a mess or start a fight with anybody. Please, PLEASE!” Cody inhaled and looked expectantly at his new flatmates.  
After a long discussion of rules, a stressing dress up show and arbitrating to avoid any further arguments between the brothers, they finally managed to go to O’Neil Tech. There wasn’t enough time to fix up the suits or find a better solution, so they just had to deal with the fact that they looked like high school prom zombies … just uglier, mutated, bigger, without the prom, the zombies and … whatever.  
  
“Sounds like a lame party” Yellow commented again, making his brothers snicker in agreement.  
“I’m serious. If we mess this up today, we’re in big trouble. I can’t help you anymore if the chief decides to …” Cody didn’t continue and had to look away.  
“Imprison us. As expected” Blue finished for him, earning a tiny whine in response.  
“Well, all we have to do is acting … normal or something like that, right? Can’t be that hard” Yellow shrugged, tiptoeing from one foot on the other, secretly rubbing his ankle with the security device, hidden under his trousers. All this stuff was itchy. His skin was all tingly and he couldn’t help but still think about what Red and Blue said. It was true. And that thing above his foot made it hard to forget. Maybe Red was right and they were still slaves, just under new lead? But even Dante said Cody would never do what his Uncle did.  
Besides, everything was better than being with that fat asshole. They had plenty of food and other stuff. It shouldn’t be that hard to pay back their host with playing nice. Maybe this event could help getting rid of Blue’s pessimistic demons too? Yellow had found his positivity again, so why shouldn’t he? Wait, had Blue ever been optimistic once? Was that a thing? Their term was literally negativity after all.  
  
“Okay … here goes nothing” Cody prayed silently for this evening to go well. However, his experience with the original Turtles already taught him to prepare for any circumstances that might happen. And he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched off. Okay that wasn’t too unusual if you walked in your own company with four giant Turtles. And not for the first time.  
“It’s party time, my dudes!” Yellow cheered, immediately passing Cody and heading for the buffet, for which he had to go right through the middle of the masses of people, his thoughts forgotten.  
“Well, stealth isn’t an option anymore” Blue mumbled to himself, ignoring the gazes, while he heard his other brothers growling at some people, while Cody put on the best and widest smile he had, greeting a couple of old men.  
  
This was going to be very interesting.


	14. Little Chats

“Dante, would you be so kind to keep an eye on Yellow? I have to greet a few guests personally” Cody asked said Turtle who only nodded, barely interested and more curious about the technology in here. He wasn’t allowed to wander around the company, but that didn’t mean he had to stay near all those noisy chatter groups of fake and formal people. Funny how they tried to invade this place around a couple of months ago.  
  
Dan huffed, thinking about all the failed missions and searched for his brother. Of course, he was still at the buffet. Yellow either didn’t notice the stares or completely ignored them. The genius was a bit curious, they hadn’t really had the chance to talk for a while now, even if they spent so much time in the penthouse. Mainly because Dante preferred the silence in the floor with the lab and other technology, where his other brothers rarely went to.  
  
Dante shoved these unnecessary thoughts aside. “I see you don’t care about being part of the freak show here” He crossed his arms, leaning against a table, almost knocking it over with his size and weight as he did so. His younger brother almost dropped his plate in surprise.  
“I’m used to. We **are** freaks, dude” Michelangelo’s clone slithered his tongue into the frosting of a cupcake. “Nothing compared to these bastards at the auction, though”  
Dante held his breath, feeling the guilt washing all over him again. They never really talked about this. The whole ‘almost being sold as a slave and shipped to another planet’ thing was always knowingly shoved aside.  
“I’m sorry” Dante mumbled, avoiding eye contact. “I should have noticed and prevent all of it. Should have become suspicious by Darius’ behavior. But I only minded my own business”  
“Haven’t we all? I mean, we’re brothers, we call us brothers, but the truth is, we don’t know much about the whole brother and family thing” Yellow put the half eaten cupcakes back to the others, completely unaware of any manners and hygiene he should have learned from Cody by now. “But … I don’t feel as angry as I did before. Besides, since Blue and Red act so strange and negative lately, I don‘t need you to act that way too”  
  
“We only act and never question things, that’s how we handle everything. Like dumb animals, it’s so annoying!” Danny snarled, his tail flinching and hitting the underside of the table. Everything rattled dangerously, as if they fell off any second. “But I thought you and Blue get along best, since you have less problems with … understanding emotions”  
Danny grabbed a piece of cake from his table with bare claws, admiring the complex frosting patterns a moment, before shoving half of it in his mouth. He guessed their eating habits wouldn’t really change, regardless of the luxury they lived in right now. His brother also secretly stuffed some biscuits in his pockets to hoard them later. At least this uncomfortable clothing had use now.  
“We do … I guess. Ever since he was with the original Turtles, it’s a bit … I don’t know. Sometimes I like his new sides and other times he’s so strange. Or maybe I’m the strange one” Feeling no need to really explore this stupid boring party, Yellow got them both some drinks and looked for a place to sit. Luckily, all that was needed was to gaze at a group of sofas to make the other guests that sat there before leave. They were afraid, only looking disgusted and mumbling to each other. Yellow whined a little at that, but wasn’t really upset about it. They were used to it. And in a way, they liked being feared. Because in their world, being feared meant to survive.  
  
  
“So, what exactly do you mean with that? Can you be more specific?” Sitting across his brother, Dante used up the whole space of his couch, just by leaning back and resting his tail beside him, while Yellow simply slumped down on his couch cross legged, half sitting on the floor because his shell would mess up the fabric and he didn’t want to give those dumb people another reason to gossip.  
“Uhm … I don’t know, it’s just … ever since he has been with the original Turtles, he sounds like that Leonardo, but at the same time, he’s against it. Does that make sense? Like, at first it was so weird and I thought they brainwashed him or something!” Yellow tried to explain, Dante nodded in agreement.  
“I was thinking something similar”  
“Right? And … I still don’t know if it’s good or bad if we act like them. I don’t know what’s even good or bad in the first place. The whole being alive thing confused me and Blue and everything that happened didn’t make it easier. So I tried to avoid everyone, but it did no good either” He sighed and felt like he lost track of what he was going to explain with his story. And he was still not sure if he should tell his brother that he met Michelangelo the day Danny got his name. “Anyway, we had a talk, after you guys came to rescue me and that fight with Red … he apologized, he admitted weakness, he … actually cared, like a brother, not like a leader. And that was the first time I thought it wasn’t so bad after all. It **felt** right”  
  
“I see” Dante stared at the liquid in his glass, as he was listening, not sure what to respond to this. “And why exactly where you upset before? And what has this to do with Blue acting strange?”  
Yellow thought a moment, before he started to list, thinking hard of a way to describe his reason of acting, “When he was with the originals and showed us this sharing, I was confused and mad … or jealous. I thought he liked them and their life more than us. But he only acted like this towards us, well, me at that time. I was happy for some reason, because he usually never shows this side to anyone. I didn’t even know he had it! He said we belong together and all these things, that he cares about us and asked me, if I still want him as a big brother …” A little embarrassed, Yellow added: “He said that love word. And we hugged!”  
  
“You two did what?!” Spilling his drink, Dante looked at his brother in shock. To him it was as if someone just told him the string theory were just a fairy tale.  
“Yeah. As weird as that was, one day he’s in big brother mode and other days he’s cold blooded leader mode, like today at breakfast. And I don’t think it’s because he still got beef with Red about Cody and the thing on my ankle”  
“Okay, uh … you do know, you and Red are also very moody recently?” The genius rubbed a hand over his face, taking deep breaths. Somehow the brainwashing theory made so much more sense to him right now. “With all what has happened so far, mood swings come with changes”  
  
Dante pushed the disturbing image in his head aside. As soft and caring as his big brother sometimes acted, Blue hugging someone was far too strange. Even if all these past events raised his concern, it still wasn’t enough prove that Blue was behaving odd. So far things were very predictable. And though he hadn’t met many clones – none except for them, to be frank – he was sure an existential crises was something a clone might go through sooner or later. Especially if they met their originals and constantly came into contact with ethical and moral topics.  
“I know! But … I have this weird feeling. Since yesterday he’s … Well, maybe I just noticed now, but ... I know I shouldn’t blame him and I’m not really better at controlling my emotions, but I think Blue’s identity crisis is much deeper than mine” So even though Yellow’s intellectual abilities were much more limited than his, they had the same thought.  
“It’s like you said once, we have a lot of issues. But have you considered your own mental state? Maybe you project such oddness on us, because you don’t know how to deal with yours in another way” Dan tried to keep his voice calm, but he would lie if he said all of this wouldn’t affect him in some way. As far as he remembered he avoided these topics as well, occupying himself with tech and projects-  
“What does that mean?!” Yellow was offended anyways, which his brother should have known. But no take backs now.  
  
“You are worried about Blue and yet you never entirely made up your mind either. You are so against anything relating to our originals, even remembering them makes you upset. I think that’s the reason why you were jealous of our brother. Because he starts to act like Leonardo and you can’t stand that thought, because you envy them so much. That’s why I assume Blue isn’t the problem here”  
“Who said anything about a damn problem?!” Yellow grabbed his glass so hard, it shattered between his claws, the shreds cutting through hardened skin and flesh.  
  
  
  
  
At a different corner, Red was standing near Cody as if he was some kind of bodyguard. Well, for the unknown eye it would look like that, but he was actually just there to make sure their host wouldn’t do anything suspicious. He still didn’t trust that kid. Yellow’s security device was the best example, that this Jones boy could make them his personal slaves if he had the chance and guts to. Though he had his reservations, since he spent the last two weeks with him and there was no sign of any evil behavior. But then again, who was he to notice something like that? Wasn’t he the dumbest and ugliest of them all?  
  
Red looked at his claws. If they just had abandoned Darius after the incident in this company, they could’ve been free by now. But how could they know? They were barely a couple of days old, still too naïve to question anything and just did what their maker and that fat asshole told them to do. Only blurry images and memories of their originals, a familiar feeling, nothing more had existed back then.  
He couldn’t help but wonder what might’ve happened if they never encountered their originals. Meeting them was like looking in a mirror. Same but different. Something as it never was. At least for him. He had nothing in common with Raphael. Like, really, there wasn’t a single thing he could think of. But as already said, thinking wasn’t his strength.  
  
“Man, these business people are so uptight, I start to think Yellow is right, this whole party IS boring” Cody sighed and leaned against the wall, next to Red. “I don’t run this company for that long but I already get sick of these parties”  
With Master Splinter, the Turtles and even Serling everything was just so much more fun. But running a company all alone at his young age was tiring. He almost wished something would happen, even though he said he wanted his new friends to behave and it was a risk to even bring them here.  
“Better than be an outcast and hide” Red huffed, not looking at him.  
“Well, I kinda was. Before the ori- … uhm, before the others showed up. I never really left my penthouse. I had no friends except for Serling who practically raised me. If that accident with the Time Window never happened, I’d still live in some Rapunzel-version like life”  
“So … Darius played you too?” Red asked in a monotone voice, not meeting his gaze and shifting a little.  
“Yes, you could say that. I’m still learning but … is it strange I still prefer being at home, away from all this stress, sometimes?” Cody smiled, but Red couldn’t see it.  
“Why should it? There ain’t anything wrong. I also like being alone and retreat if I need space and everything just sucks” The turtle shrugged and ran his hand through a shredded cloth that once was part of the sleeve of his jacket. “If it’s boring, what would you like to do instead?”  
“Well, I don’t really know. Usually I just like to spend my time in my lab, but I’m patrolling with the Turtle-X from time to time, stopping criminals and handing them to the peace keepers. Not as cool like the stuff my great-grandparents did, but I like it”  
  
“Your great-what?” Red finally looked his company in the eyes.  
“Oh, right” Cody completely forgot, the clones only had memories of their own originals. They couldn’t know anything about others. Just like they never showed any reaction except curiosity about family bonds beside brotherly relationship. Well, they were sensitive if he mentioned the Turtles, but were never offended if he mentioned Splinter. “My great-grandparents are Casey and April Jones. But her name was, before she married, O’Neil. They are the parents of my grandmother Shadow, who was the mother of my father Augustus. Augustus was also the name of April’s Uncle, which means he’s the brother of her father”  
Red already lost track after the marry thing and only looked more and more confused as Cody continued to talk. But what sounded strangely familiar was ‘Casey Jones’ … huh, probably because it was close to Cody Jones.  
“Seriously, I start to get what Yellow has against that whole naming thing. No one can remember all this stuff!”  
  
“Sorry, it’s … well, what do you do for fun?” Okay, that didn’t work out. But at least they finally had a real conversation.  
“Beat something” Red simply told him,  
“Like sports, for stress relieve or do you mean beating up bad guys?”  
“Yes”  
Both went quiet again, awkwardly standing next to each other. Cody, still trying to understand Red and his personality and figuring out how to form a bond with him, looked around. All the people here, drinking and laughing, mostly ignoring his friends and talking, were only minding their business. Last time he had been here, everyone seemed to want something from him. He was the CEO of O’Neil Tech after all. Yet everybody avoided him now. Maybe because of Red.  
But not only Red was unwanted company. From across the area it looked like Dante and Yellow were arguing. They didn’t really fight and weren’t loud enough to be heard that far, but people literally backed off a huge distance while walking around them.  
  
“This doesn’t look good. I hope they calm down, we can’t afford a scandal. Maybe we should interfere?” Cody asked out loud before searching for the person who usually arbitrated such fights between his brothers. “Wait, where’s Blue anyway?”

 

This party just kept getting better and better. And it was far from over. Cody deeply hoped he wouldn't regret his decision soon.


	15. Noise

Cody said they should stay nearby. Well, it was a little too late for that now.  
  
Blue had to leave the main room, all these people were making him angry. He had to calm down, needed to go somewhere quiet. So he simply sneaked out, unnoticed and stealthy like the ninja he was supposed to be. Or more his original he shared part of his DNA with.  
  
All these glares and whispers behind his back. His whole body was aching with fury, anger boiling up in his stomach and the hurting feeling in his chest beating against his plastron with every step he took. So much pressure. He was about to explode.  
  
“I hate this place!” The leader roared and punched a wall. He was searching for some kind of bathroom but only got lost. Maybe he should head to the upper floor and roof or just leave through a window. He had no nerve to go back to all the noise and people. No way. He was about to lose his temper for good.  
Blue was about to punch that wall again, not caring which floor he currently was on or if there were any cameras around here, but then a sudden pain in his head caught him off guard.  
  
All he could do was hissing and clutching his head, trying to get rid of the ringing and screeching in his mind.  
“Argh … gnh – what the shell is going o-urghn!” Blue grunted, his breath fastening rapidly, legs shaking. He never had such a strange kind of pain before, which was even worse than being stabbed with a knife. An experience like this was shocking. All his nerves were paralyzed. And then there was this loud and long … chirp, drowning everything else out like something exploded right next to his ears.  
  
He didn’t know how long this … whatever just happened right now … took, but eventually the headache subsided, after he thought his skull was splitting in half, leaving him out of breath and kneeing on the ground.  
Maybe it was a bit too stupid, but the first thing that came to his mind was: _“I’m glad nobody saw me like that, I must’ve looked pathetic and weak”_ instead of actually wondering what it was and why it even happened.  
The first thing he did was get up again and rubbing his neck. All his muscles were tense, as if someone electrocuted him. That was something way different and more extreme compared to the continuously, pounding ache in his chest.  
  
“I have to leave this place.” Determined to not waste a single second staying here any longer, the clone started to pay attention to his surroundings again, looking for another exit. The option with the window became more and more appealing to him, as he felt a fading chirp, creeping in the corner of his mind, slowly coming back.  
Meditation wouldn’t help this time. His pulse and blood pressure was too hyped and calming down seemed impossible right now. Perhaps it was just the stress. And there was no chance for it to collect his thoughts, because he felt another presence coming closer.  
  
  
  
“I tell you, the company’s glory times are over. Since that scandal with Darius Dun and that kid running the business, it’s done for!” A noisy female voice nagged, giggling to herself. Blue was able to hide in a side corridor just in time, as she was walking by, accompanied by a Triceraton, but all he saw were their shadows on the ground.  
“You’re right my dear. Cooperating with that child is a terrible joke. And it’s not very helpful for his image to show up with these hideous creatures.”  
“I can’t believe they are actually allowed to walk around, looking like that. But have you looked in a mirror lately~?”  
The woman walked unsteady, she was probably drunk. She stopped, turning to the alien and laughing, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, though she had to jump a little, because she was about two heads shorter.  
“Oh, I’m much better than these uncultured, mindless monsters. They have no class and most importantly, they’re –“ The Triceraton hesitated, looking in the direction where Blue was hiding, his warrior senses tingling.  
  
“They’re what? Common, don’t be mean! Tell me!” The female human kept bugging him, smirking and kissing his neck, which was enough to distract him. He returned the touchy gestures by grabbing her waist, pulling the smaller figure closer to him, grinning wide.  
“They’re only a bunch of recycled garbage piles, just like this company.”  
Both laughed and started to make out, while walking towards a certain door, a storage room or something like that.  
  
  
It was a miracle to Blue how he managed to stay quiet and not charge at them right from the spot. Recycled garbage? Was that really how they pictured clones? Or just them? Did every fucking prick at this party thought the same?! It was a mystery to him how Leonardo managed to stay calm and collected. How he still found the motivation to protect or fight for all these fake people.  
Well … time indeed changed things. Sure, they were able to walk around, didn’t have to hide like their originals in their timeline, but that changed nothing. Only the fact that different species now were aware of them, but treating them like shit anyways. Or just him and his brothers, because they were … monsters.  
  
What was even the point in trying to be nice to them? Why was he doing that? What were they thinking when they agreed to stay with Cody? What for?  
“Maybe being the bad guy … suits me better.” The leader mumbled to himself, the burning rage inside his body subsiding dangerously fast.  
He looked at his hands. Three ugly fingers each. He looked at his feet. Two ugly toes each. He looked at the window, showing the skyline but also reflecting his whole body. An ugly face. All of them peaked out of a beautiful designer suit. Creased, but good looking. However, it didn’t change the ugly figure inside. It was fake, just like these bastards out there.  
  
They wanted a bad guy? A monster? Sure, he could give them just that.  
  
Without much hesitation, Blue started to rip the probably expensive clothing apart, starting with the blue tie, followed by the black jacket and the white shirt. Since he had no gear with him, he’d feel too naked if he shredded the trousers as well, so they were spared from his tantrum.  
  
He was considering to cause a rampage or something like that, that ringing in his ears making it hard to concentrate and think clearly anyway, but before he could do such a thing, a loud thud behind the door of the storage room alerted him. He had not been able to clearly see the Triceraton and that female human, in order to remain unseen, but he didn’t care. And right now he was so grossed out and angry, he just walked away, grumbling and cursing everything and everyone.  
His conscience tried to remind him how important that party was for Cody. That he promised his brother to at least try to become a better person. That he was responsible for not only his own actions. But right now it was just too hard to be thoughtful. Why bothering about it anyways? Maybe Darius was right and they were right to be wrong …  
  
No. No! What the hell was he thinking?! He couldn’t just give in that easily and throw everything away … that wasn’t right. Even if those people here were assholes, just like Dun, he shouldn’t blame everyone … Let alone thinking about that guy!  
  
Blue stopped right before the elevator, looking once again at his reflection in the metal of the doors. “What am I doing?” The noise in his ears, as raging as it had been just like his inner feelings, became dull and faded back to the corner of his head.  
Was he overreacting? Wasn’t he doing enough at all? His soul – if he had one, that is – was torn between his loyalty to his brothers and that stuff he learned from Splinter and Leonardo and his desire to bust all these pricks heads, destroying that stupid furniture and decoration just to actually feel something beside the pain in his head and chest. Just to feel _alive_.  
He couldn’t go back now, though. Literally. If he heard these horny shitheads one more time, he’d most likely kick that door open and end their little private party. But if he went back, looking like this, the others would definitely want to know what happened, if they weren’t already wondering where he was.  
  
  
It wasn’t necessary to weigh his options and form a plan or strategy, because the elevator opened right before his nose, to his luck revealing four well known persons, squeezed in the little space like sardines in a tin.  
“There you are!” Yellow exclaimed, trying to make his way out of that thing but only ending up hitting Red in the face with his elbow and his spiky shell poking Dante. Between the whole mess of reptile-alien flesh was Cody, only half the size of his friends and breathing between gasps like some koi fish.  
“Guy’s this isn’t working.” The boy was ignored because all three of Blue’s brothers now tried to force their way out, while he took a few steps back to make enough room for what was about to happen.  
“Stop it, you’re ripping my jacket apart!” Dante complained, trying to shove Yellow aside, who’s shell was tearing the fabric and making holes.  
“Shut up, nobody cares about that stupid thing!” his only younger brother snarled, obviously mad at him for some reason.  
Red on the other hand ignored all of this, pointing out the obvious “What the shell have ya done to your outfit and why did ya sneak out in the first place?!”  
“Guys, seriously-“ Cody couldn’t finish in time, they were already tumbling out the elevator, falling on the floor as a bunch.  
  
  
  
“I told you this wouldn’t work,” Cody was the first to stand again, brushing the dust off of his clothes. It was then he realized what Red had meant, as he was looking at Blue. He must have removed the suit in the last couple of minutes, because he still had it on, when he looked at the security cameras to spot him. It had taken a while, but it wasn’t hard to find a large blue mutant Turtle in an almost empty building, since most people were at the main room. “But Red’s right, what happened to you?”  
“Nothing. Let’s just leave.” Blue wasn’t in the mood to share his thoughts with anyone right now, so he just walked over the mess, back in the elevator.  
“Wait, you’re not going to leave just like that, are you?” Yellow was dragging Dante back down in his attempt to stand up again, only to walk back, over the shells of his other brothers who complained loudly, and put his foot right between the doors, before they closed.  
“I know the way back to the penthouse, I can walk if that’s the problem. You don’t have to come with me, I don’t wanna ruin the fun.” Blue declared in a monotone voice.  
“Dude, are you serious? We just came here and … okay, it’s really a stupid party right now, but we can change that, if you want!”  
“It ain’t like we have fun either.” Red commented, looking at the clothing on his figure, which once used to be a suit too.  
  
“Are you sure?” Cody asked the blue clone turtle instead, who only nodded. “Well, as long as you’re careful to not draw the attention of the Peace Keepers, I don’t see a problem, though I’d appreciate if you stayed here.”  
He carefully pulled Yellows sleeve to make him move his foot out of the way. Blue said nothing as the doors closed and he disappeared again.  
  
  
“Okay now that was a total disaster. I mean, how long have we been here? Like an hour or something? And we didn’t even party like you’re supposed to! This whole trip is a bummer!” The youngest clone complained, throwing his claws In the air and going into the opposite direction. “Everything sucks!”  
“Calm down, it was obvious. Don’t tell me you expected this event to go different?” Dante tried to reason with his brother, only to be shoved away.  
“Oh stop pretending you weren’t! You were just as exited today as I was! You’re not better and definitely not more rational and with less ‘ _problems’_ than us!”  
“How many times do I have to tell you, I didn’t mean to put it that way? I’m sorry, okay!”  
  
“So much about the agreement and rules earlier.” Red kept his distance, eying Cody who seemed a bit lost and overwhelmed. He was just a kid after all. How could he take care of four difficult personas like them? “These classy parties just ain’t our type. The only good and our first party was the one after we captured the others, in that underground bar. And it lasted only a few minutes”  
“I see.” Cody rubbed his neck, deep in thought, until he heard muffled noises down the hallway.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Blue left the elevator on the first floor, thinking it was the best idea to just jump out of a window from this distance, hoping nobody would notice. He decided it was best to ignore his inner thoughts and just let his instinct guide him. That made his head hurt less. At least a little. All he wanted was some quiet and dark place to forget about all this chaos for a while before he could bring himself to find a solution for his situation. He wasn’t even mad at his brothers, nor at Cody, but everything right now was just so … so …  
  
Shaking his head, the leader spotted a half open window in a room that looked like an office. It was hard to guess who worked here beside the company owner. Not that Blue cared in the first place. So with no further investigation, he forced himself with some kind of gracefulness _(for his bulky size to fit through such a tiny window was quite an act)_ out and jumped down. The distance wasn’t that large, but it was far enough to break a normal human’s legs.  
  
Walking down the dark alleys felt familiar. Hiding in the shadows, avoiding eyesight, trying not to alert anyone. Though he was sure nobody minded him down here, with the lower class folk, mostly dubious and criminal creatures, some looking even uglier than him, if he might add. But nothing compared to the most hideous of all, which happened to cross his path.  
  
“So, how has my nephew been the past weeks, if I may ask?” That slimy voice made Blue’s head hurt even more, like nails scratching on a blackboard.


	16. Fun(?)

“I can’t believe it. This whole event is a mess!” Cody buried his face in his hands, slowly sliding down the wall and just sat there on the ground, mourning.  
“Blue did say it was a bad idea.” Yellow mumbled, as he sat down next to him. If that was his way to comfort him, he wasn’t doing a good job. After they explored the hallway to find out what and where those noises came from, they … let’s just say, all of them were a bit traumatized due to their immature age, not just Cody. He had to call the security, the two love birds were thrown out. Who had even invited them?  
  
It was this night Cody realized how much he still had to learn about his company. He barely knew anything about the business, the employees and the management in general. Oh man, he missed Starlee. She would help him! She knew this place almost better than he did. Mainly because she spent more time here, but he felt like all the burden just crushed down on him.  
  
Before he practically adopted the clone Turtles, his life was much easier. He repaired the Time Window, witnessing the wedding of his great-grandparents, watching his friends, Splinter and Serling from afar and upgraded the Turtle X to roam around New York, fighting bad guys and all that. It had been a good time. Lonely, but not as complicated as it was now.  
And man, he missed Serling. At times like these he wished to have a guidance. Who had he left to rely on? His parents were dead, he literally never really knew them in the first place and his only relative was a greedy, evil idiot. Though he liked to bring Serling back, it wasn’t that easy. The Time-Machine was severally damaged because of Viral and rebuilding it took a lot of time and fine tuning. Plus, he had no Donatello to help him and Dante wouldn’t take his place. And why would he? If he thought about it, how could he ever think to accomplish something all on his own? It was just too much and he was still a kid – despite the intellect.  
  
It was the first time he didn’t know what to do now. He had no idea. This party was supposed to … to … wow, he didn’t even know what this was all about. Who organized it again? He was so busy mothering the clone turtles the past weeks and before he had just patrolled the city all day … it became too much. He couldn’t do everything all alone. And he didn’t want to.  
“Ugh, I can’t think clearly.” Still upset, Cody pulled his legs close and rested his forehead on his knees, like he used to do it a lot at a younger age. For someone with his intellect and independence one would think he could handle himself. But whoever thought this shit was simply wrong. As grown up and mature as he seemed, again, he was still a teenager. A little social awkward, not really outgoing and right now having a bit of a mental breakdown over nothing, teenager. So all in all really accurate.  
  
  
“Is he crying?” Red walked a little closer to Dante, whispering.  
“No, I don’t think so. But he’s … uh, I don’t know. It’s weird.” Shrugging, the genius turned away, looking out the window, were he saw the guests leaving the building. Cody had told the guards to end this party. To quote Yellow: It was a waste of food anyway.  
Speaking of which, Yellow was unsure how to soothe Cody. His brother was still mad, yet he cared about his new friend. He even cared enough to look at him, with that questioning gaze directed at Danny, who always new an answer. The purple brother was almost thankful for this event. Though he knew many answers, he wasn’t quite sure if he had known how to properly apologize to Yellow about their argument earlier. But really, why did his brother had to be so sensitive? It was true! All Dante did was telling facts.  
However, right now there was nothing Dante could think of. He felt stupid and useless. Now he had the chance to make up for the disaster of a chat earlier but had no solution! This whole empathy stuff wasn’t meant for him, his job was just to … well, instead of Donatello he wasn’t quite sure what his part in the team was exactly. But he was the smartest of them, he’d figure it out sooner or later.  
  
“Hey, I have an idea!” A sudden enlightenment hit Yellow and he stood up again. “Why don’t we go to a real party? That’s gonna be fun, Cody!”  
Cody’s head perked up again, sending the mutant a skeptical look. He was so not in a party mood right now and there were several other problems on his mind. One of them was Blue. The turtle could do whatever he wanted, he had no right to force him to do anything, regardless of what the cops thought. And though he wasn’t sure Yellow or any of the others had noticed, but he had already deactivated the security device, only leaving the GPS signal on.  
“I don’t really feel like partying anymore.” Cody denied the offer, simply not sure what he was supposed to do now. His mind was blank and he questioned all his past decisions, missing his past-time family more than ever.  
“And that’s exactly why we should go to a party! A real one, like the one Red mentioned before. Come on!” The youngest clone kept pleading, roaming through his suit until he found what he had been looking for. “And if the food’s not good there, I have plenty of it _up_ _my sleeve_.”  
Yellow offered him a cupcake, squished and the frosting smeared all over, but … still edible. Well, if you wanted to eat it that is.  
  
“Heh, literally.” Cody smiled a little, taking the gift and looked at it. Michelangelo’s clone shared a lot of his personal attributes. One was to be very greedy about food and an almost gluttony behavior. Though Yellow was a lot more extreme, even hiding food all around the place. Sharing it was something he didn’t do much. Considering his alien DNA with the hunger issue and their life as … it wasn’t a real life before, anyway, that meant a lot. Cody ignored his esthetic sense for edible food and took a huge bite. The cupcake tasted weird, it had adapted a textile like flavor.   
“Is that a yes?” Yellow appeared like a puppy with his smile and the huge tongue hanging out.   
“It’s a maybe. We can go out a little, but no dubious locals. Okay?”  
“Yay!” The clone cheered and put an arm around both Dante and Red, pulling them closer, the anger towards his genius brother forgotten for now. For a moment, it was like the real turtles were here, right in front of him. And Cody couldn’t help but smile sadly to himself. Since they left he hadn’t been in the mood to do anything like going on trips or doing anything besides working. He saw no point in doing so, all alone.   
But right now there was this feeling he had with the turtles. That he actually wanted to do this, as long as they were with him.  
  
  
  
  
  
“I don’t know, this looks pretty dubious to me.” Cody crossed his arms, looking at the partially hidden bar downtown they were currently standing in front. He didn’t remember ever being here. But then again, there were a lot of places he had never been to in this big City.  
“Pff, totally not dubious or whatever! That place is total rad, dude!” Yellow grinned, gesturing to the entrance in an inviting manner while you could clearly hear barbaric and dubious people yell and fight inside.  
“Maybe we should go to another place or join Blue at home to watch some movies.” Cody quickly recommended, but was sandwiched between Red and Dante, no room for escape left.  
“Hey, we’re gonna cheer ya up, so don’t chicken out, will ya?” The big paw of Red pushed him forward with gentle force, ignoring all the stammering and protests of Cody Jones.  
  
Though Dan still held back his commenting, he couldn’t help to sigh. He wouldn’t stop his brothers, but he was sure this idea was more than risky. The bad guys and especially aliens didn’t mind their appearance, but everyone knew Cody, he was the most famous kid in New York. It was possible some thugs would try something if they weren’t careful enough.  
“Wait a second guys.” Danny finally declared, his brothers looking at him disappointed.  
“Phew, thank you Da-“  
“We need to disguise him first. If they recognize him, we might get in trouble and none of us has any weapon or gear.” Dante shattered Cody’s hopes and ripped the boy’s sleeves off his purple coat. “He doesn’t look like the type to come here.”  
“Simply ruining my clothes won’t disguise me, this isn’t like the anime you watched!”  
“We have to do something with his hair! Can I draw some fake tattoos on him too? Can I?”  
“How’re ya gonna do that? We have no weapons and we sure ain’t got make-up n’ stuff.”  
“These wannabe criminals sure don’t pay attention to facial details, je just shouldn’t look like a prick.”  
“I’m right here guys, you know?!”  
  
  
“Why am I even doing this?” Questioning his life decisions was something Cody should’ve gotten used to by now. That’s what he mostly signed up for by adopting four alien-mutant-clone-whatever turtles that knew too less about this world with their little to no experience of their less than half a year lifespan. Still, his new friends never ceased to surprise him once again. Every time Cody was sure to know them and their behavior, they topped his expectations.  
  
“Come on, you look only half as bad!” Yellow encouraged Cody, patting his back.  
“I feel like my dignity was violated.” The young human avoided looking at his reflection he saw in the dirty windows while they entered the club. His clothes were torn to give him a punky ( _more like homeless)_ look and his hair was messy. On top of that he was smeared with motor oil all over. He had no idea how expensive his clothes were, since Serling bought them, but he could hear his voice yelling inside his head. And somehow imaginary-Serling was constantly flipping tables and running in circles. A funny picture but a very unfitting situation.  
  
He should’ve convinced them to go home while he still had the chance. The area was full of thugs and other suspicious people, laughing, drinking and, of course, some were fighting or gambling … or doing all of that at the same time.  
“All right, next try to have fun.” Yellow was sure the food would probably be less tasty but it was definitely a different atmosphere than before. People were dancing, the neon lights on every wall blinked to the beat of the music and it was much livelier in general than this lame ass uptight party at O’Neil Tech.  
“Whatever, don’t stray too far away.” Red warned his brother, feeling now responsible since he was the second oldest - only by a few hours of cloning but that didn’t matter. He on the other hand was already walking towards the bar with that big ass screen were a couple of guys in front were cheering about a sports game.  
“I’m going to take care of our financial business.” Dante spotted a poker table around the corner. “Mind if I borrow some money, Cody?”  
“Does anyone of you know how to dance? Cody, do you? I wanna dance! Or can we play at these flashy gamethingies?”  
“Got some coins fa me to buy some drinks too?”  
Said redhead couldn’t even contemplate enough what was going on right now. He had never been to such a place. Everything drew his attention at once and he was a little scared of all the badass looking company, though he’d never say that out loud. All this noise and crowded space was just too much at once. And three nagging kids who shouldn’t even be allowed to come in here weren’t less worrying..  
“Uhm I … would rather not split. Let’s stay together. Or better, we can still just go home and watch a movie or –“  
“Stop being a chicken, dude! Even without that robo-suit you can still be pretty badass, or at least pretend to be.” Michelangelo’s copycat gave Cody no time to defend or talk himself a way out of this situation and pulled him on the dance floor.  
  
“Hey, wait! We still need the money!” Regardless if they wanted to dance or not ( _at least they had a choice, unlike Cody_ ), Red and Dante followed them, shoving the crowd out of their way. Gladly Red was big and bulky enough to make room so Dante only had to walk right behind him. The thought to come in contact with so many people wasn’t on his To-Do list.  
  
Meanwhile, Cody was sure this night would be the most stressful of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that I have a little more time to breath, I can finally focus on this story again~  
> Cody is definitely having the time of his life here :'D


	17. Party Crashing

“I want a beer.” Red complained, sitting next to Cody who was certainly not talented at dancing. Not that he couldn’t, he had played several dance games at home, but it was different in public. And he missed the arrows fitting to the music that would tell him how to move.

The only good thing about the huge crowd was that a human his size could easily vanish. Now he was sitting at the bar next to Red, drinking plain water and desperately trying to ignore Yellow behind him, who mimicked some drunken aliens jumping or whatever they called this dance style. It wasn’t like the turtle looked stupid doing so, Yellow was actually doing a pretty good job, despite his clumsy foot work. The dance itself was just stupid.  
  
“I’m not buying you a beer. You’re more underage than I am.” Cody denied, lecturing his friend. Though it was hard to tell how old his three companions were, he himself was obviously too young to be here. “I don’t even know why they let us enter in the first place.”  
“I’m 18!” Red started to bargain, scowling. What was the big deal? The boy was rich, he had his stupid credit card with him to pay for the whole buildings inventory but all he did was buying for tasteless fluid they had plenty of in the penthouse too.  
“Weeks. And that’s still too young in years.” Not to mention the mental age, but Cody wasn’t going to add fuel to a fire.  
  
“And gambling ain’t for underage either, yet Danny’s playing.”  
“He’s … what? When?” His alarm senses tingling, Cody hastily looked around the area, spotting a purple turtle sitting at a table with other guys, holding a full house in his hands, his tail under the table holding another card. The people he was playing with didn’t look that friendly. If they found out he was cheating, all hell would break lose, he was sure. Such guys in leatherjackets were always serious business, he had watched many movies involving them.  
The young CEO decided to stay calm and not walk over to Dante, though he wanted to and lecture him ( _wow, he was starting to become like Serling_ ). That would make it even more suspicious. Hopefully Dante was sneaky enough like Blue and wouldn’t get busted. Cheating was wrong, especially with money involved, but Cody thought to rob off some goons would serve them right. “Forget it, he’s doing what he wants anyway and get us in trouble.” He told mostly himself, but Red heard him loud and clear.  
  
“In that case … I want a beer!” Red ordered without a second thought. The female human barkeeper eyed him shadily, chewing on her gum and blowing a bubble.  
“Are you even old enough, big boy?” She asked with a sassy grin, leaning against the table. Her long earring dangled over her shoulder. She looked older, around her 40s but was dressed like a young women with feathers braided in her dreadlocks and skinny clothing. The leather jacket had a white emblem printed on it, what looked like the skull of some animal with horns.  
“Uh …” Not prepared to be asked that by someone else, Red looked grumpy. “Does that matter?“  
“Just say yes, idiot.” She rolled with her eyes, handing him a bottle. “I don’t care as long you boys pay, hobo.”  
Red wasn’t entirely sure what a hobo exactly was, but it sounded like an insult, therefore he growled at her, grabbing the beer anyway and attempting to ex the ridiculously tiny bottle in his giant hands. But the strange and bitter taste was unexpected. So instead, Red spit half of it out, coughing like crazy. Cody bit back the urge to tell him ‘I told you’ and quietly drank from his water.  
  
“Aww, easy there, hon.” The barkeeper mocked him, while winking at Cody. “Since you’re paying, you should be glad he’s not that tough.”  
“That fucking shit yae call beer is even harder ta swallow ones pride, Dolly!” One of the guys at Dante’s poker table called over, having the same emblem on his leather jacket. That one looked even older, a Salamandrian if Cody assumed the species correctly.  
“Yeah? How come your tab has increased since 2089 if it tastes so bad?” The women retorted. The salamander’s friends cracking up in laughter. There were a lot of potential criminals, punks and other people of different ages, but this place looked kinda steampunk like. The bar and gambling area was designed like some old pub style from the late 2000s while the dancing floor, with all the light show and the DJ across the room was more futuristic and fitting for this age. And this place was probably much bigger, but the next room was closed and guarded. The elder punks and biker here however didn’t seem to be connected to the usual thugs.  
“Ey, that dude’s tryin ta cheat!” Another reptile like alien noticed Dante’s tail under the table, because he was using the same method.  
“So are you, kid. But instead of you, he’s doing it right and winning.”  
  
  


 

  
“And you guys just drive around?” Cody felt like a little kid that lost his mother, sitting between all these people. After collecting Yellow from the dance floor, before he would kick one of these gangsters and cause a major argument, the bikers from the poker-tables accompanied them at the bar. They called themselves ‘The Skull Dragons’ and were just like any other gang of punks and bikers, they only cared about their own business, most of them former criminals, soldiers or whatever. But they claimed to be ‘at least better than most scum downtown and loyal to each other’.  
“That’s right, lad. Only us, the sky, the street, whatever vehicle you can drive and freedom!” One of the elder member said, a bald human with a long white beard.  
“And alcohol!” Samuel, the Salamandrian, added. Meanwhile Red stared at his half-finished drink in disgust. The thought of drinking a beer was much more appealing in his imagination about ten minutes before.  
  
Above the laughter of these guys, there was more yelling at the guarded room. The house looked smaller on the outside than it really was, Cody noticed.  
“Sounds like these lowlifes have an argument again.” Dolly handed the Skull Dragons another round of beer, giving Cody and the turtles a lemonade each, winking mockingly again at Red who was still pissed.  
“I thought this is what this place is about.” Dante questioned, earning a glare from Cody. Well, it wasn’t like Dante and the others had especially intended to guide their uptight friend to a wild location like this. But it was secluded enough to not draw attention from anyone. Neither the cops nor other criminals that might knew about the Dark Turtles and Darius Dun.  
“Not really. This district is full of clubs, bars and other locals to party. The cops and the high society avoids it because here’s a lot of trouble every night. It’s mainly for free spirits, people that just come here to have fun. Nobody asks if you have a criminal history.” Dolly explained, smiling a little friendlier than she did before. As mean as she had looked to Cody at first sight, she seemed to be a really caring women. Maybe she was only nice because Cody was still a kid, but he was surprised nonetheless. “Yet it’s true, some gangs prefer explicit locations to hang out. I don’t own this building, I don’t make the rules here. Otherwise, there would be a ton of ‘guests’ I’d like to kick out.”  
“Really? Who?” Yellow found these guys really fun and interesting and was glad his friend was cheering up again. Sitting and talking wasn’t really how he imagined this party to be, but the baldy beard human wanted to teach him to play poker. He could ask Dante, but he remembered he was mad at him and went back to ignore his brothers existence, much to Danny’s dismay.  
“Dolphin talks about these punks. What did they call themselves again? Street Ghosts or something like that.” The baldy said, making a face.  
Sam finished his fifth beer and added “Nae, I think it was Street Phantoms. But yeah, carjacking and other crime is pretty common here, no one cares about that or gets judged. But these punks do everything for money, even selling people. I ain’t no saint but slavery is wrong. ‘S like punishing creatures that already lead a poor life for nothing. Thinking some are less worth than others, how sick is that? They ain’t any better.”  
  
The faces of the turtles faltered. Cody felt the temperature drop by several degrees.  


  
“W-well glad they got arrested. I mean, I heard in the news the police arrested them in the middle of a transfer.” Sweat started to run down Cody’s forehead. He forced a tiny smile, but just like Red and Dante, he sent Yellow a concerned look. The youngest was awfully quiet all of a sudden. His head spun around to the door that led to the next room where still loud noises and cheering came from. It was hard to tell what was going on in his head right now.  
  
“Hah, I wish. These jerks always sneak away with their stupid invisibility-cloaks or whatever. Their boss, like the coward he is, hides for almost two weeks now.” Sam spat angrily, not knowing what his statement caused next. “Some of them are even in there to celebrate how they fooled the cops.”  
  
Yellow jumped up from his seat, unusual aggressiveness showing in his posture, his gaze never leaving the black door.  
  
Just as he was about to wordlessly storm through the crowd again, he was held back by Dante.  
“Lemme go, I’m gonna crack their shells open!” He hissed between gritted teeth, tears of pure fury building up in the corner of his orange eyes. He was ready to throw everyone out of his way. He wanted to face them. To be sure his tormentors were in there. And if they were, he would …  
“Calm down, we have no weapons and you don’t know how many of them are behind there!” The genius tried to talk sense into him, keeping a low voice to soothe his brother. In the corner of his eye, he could see Red’s muscles tense and how he squished the lemonade in his hands. He didn’t need his leaders danger sensing to know this situation was getting really treacherous.  
  
“Shut up, they didn’t try to sell you and treated you like shit!” The memory of these punks with their sticks, electrocuting and mocking him, how miserable he had felt there, flashed before his eyes. He could almost smell his own burned flesh wounds, the thirst and hunger, the desperation was dwelling up in the back of his mind again. He had no idea what he should do, what he should feel. His instincts told him to flee and attack at once, just as he felt fear and anger at the same time. “They will pay for this! Every one of them! I’m goona … I will…I will … I …”  
Yellow wanted to shove his brother away, yell at him, curse him, ask him why he wasn’t there, why they abandoned him, why he had to endure this, why this just had to happen to him and how unfair it was. But he couldn’t. Along with that anger and desperation he experienced was also the terror and nightmares he thought he had left behind. An unparticular panic that made him froze, not shove his brother away and looking at Red and Cody, who stood beside him.  
  
He was shaking, his claws digging in the flesh of his brother’s arms. No, he wasn’t a sissy! He would get his revenge! He would do the same to them! Cause them pain and make them beg for mercy!  
“Don’t tell me they got you too, lad.” Sam was shocked, to say the last as he watched the yellow turtle having sort of an anxiety attack at express unintelligible animalistic noises and curses  
  
“Yeah he … endured pretty much. He was in a very poor state when I found him.” Cody didn’t know why he told them the truth. He should just leave with Red, Dante and Yellow. If they stayed here any longer, they probably would cause a riot. Red was awfully quiet and by the look of his face and the hands full of glass shreds, he was more than ready to smash everything in here to pieces and skin these dorks alive. And they hadn’t even encountered them yet. They only heard muted music, yelling and cheering behind that door, barely reaching them due the other sounds in here.  
  
“I’m gonna make them move no more!” Red suddenly roared, smashing his fist on the table and leaving cracks in it. He stood up, ignoring Dante’s protests and started to walk towards the door, a bunch of drunken wannabe criminals violently shoving aside. It was like his little rational thinking just shut down.  
“No, wait! Guys, we can’t just start a fight in here, we-“ Cody was completely overwhelmed. Now not only the Skull Dragons, but also the rest of the customers noticed them. Everyone stared, they were either mad or scared and he didn’t know how to act. He was too weak to stop Red and Yellow was still panicking and scratching Dante who tried his best to hold him in place. Meanwhile the Dragon Skulls were too stunned from what was going on to do anything.  
  
“Hey, what the hell’s ya problem, fat ass?!” One of the security guards from the black door walked up to Red, standing in his way. Instead of answering, the giant and very, very angry turtle grabbed him by his shirt and threw him over the dance floor with as much effort like one would throw a baseball. A loud crash told him, he landed on one of the poker tables.  
The door before him was revealed to be colored glass that would automatically open if the right code word was used. Some kind of VIP lounge or whatever. Didn’t matter, he would shatter this thing, walk right in and bust some heads. And he would make them suffer. He wasn’t in time to safe his brother and avenge him back then, he wasn’t there when his brother had needed him most and … for some reason, although he didn’t even know why and when he started to care that much for his brother … it made him more angry at himself than at these bastards. And he wanted to make up for it. That was all he could think of right now … no wait, he wasn’t really thinking clearly at all.  
  
  
“Red, you can’t just walk in there! Stop!” Dante was torn. Everything happened at once and couldn’t decide what to do. There was no fitting solution. “Mik – Yellow, calm down.”  
“Just let me go, Danny.” Panting that fast he had to hiccup every time he breathed in, the younger brother kept scratching the arms that held him, biting the shoulder his head was leaning on, pressing against the plastron that he so desperately wanted to move away. But it failed. “Leave me alone!”  
  
“Yae know, we ain’t dumb enough ta call the cops, but we need ta do something.” Sam told his fellow members. But it was too late, Red was charged to ram the door. The only thing they heard after the break in, was the music still playing and yelling inside. People were either leaving the building or curiously going to the other room. Some douches even ignored the mess and used the given chance to steal some money or drinks.  
  
  
“This is getting too out of hand.” Cody decided it was time to do something. He pressed the emergency button on his watch that would call the Turtle-X. Maybe he should call the Peace Keepers, but that would only cause him and the turtles even more trouble. “I’m very sorry for the chaos we’re causing.”  
“Are you kidding, honey? This happens about once a week. If you’re done getting your big friends before more goons show up, we get you outta here.” Dolly told him. After all, she didn’t own this place. And the Skull Dragons hated the Street Phantoms.  
“I’m all in for a good fight! Let’s kick some ass.” Sam and the other gang members stood up, drinking on one last sip of beer before they told the rest of the customers to leave ... more likely, they kicked them out.  
“But … why would you do this?” Cody asked them, his watch giving a signal that his suit was about to arrive outside in a few moments.  
“Well, nobody messes with our friends, Jonsey-boy. To be honest, the guys only waited for an excuse to beat those fuckers to a pulp anyway, so we should rather thank you. And as rotten as some of us are, slavery is a no-go.” Dolphin the barkeeper laid a hand on his shoulder. “And if you sneak downtown next time, pay with cash, not with credit transfer, Cody Augustus Jones.”  
  
The young CEO was speechless and therefore could only nod in understanding before he ran out to climb into his suit. The noise had scared most people off the street. He was just about to go back in when a chair flew through the window, followed by even louder yelling and fighting inside.  
“Now that’s what people call crashing a party.” Cody said to himself, regretting that he didn’t just went back home with the others to watch a movie. Hopefully Red’s rampage wasn’t going to escalate that much. But since he had Raph’s temper … that hope was in vain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, brotherly bonding between Yellow and Dante .. or probably not.  
> But oh my god, the slang and accent was so hard to write xD But it's about time Red gets some attention here.
> 
> And yes, call me a drama queen, I live for it~


	18. Let's Dance

Red’s balance barely faltered as he broke through the door, intruding what looked like a private celebration party with female company. His vision matched his skin color, he was literally seeing red. He had no idea who of them was the leader but he wasn’t going to make any differences or exceptions, he wanted to hurt them.  
  
It was oddly satisfying how surprised they looked and backed away from him as he roared at them, charging again for the one that sat nearest to the entrance and punching him hard before that guy was even able to grab something to defend himself. Meanwhile the females were screaming in terror and ran away.  
  
The gang members shock didn’t hold for long. As soon as their comrade was taken down, they grabbed their cloaks to become non-solid. All the punches Red threw at his foes just went right through them as if they were ghosts. The more he missed, the angrier he became.  
  
“What the fuck kind of an animal is that?!” One of the Street Phantoms asked out loud.  
Another added, “Ain’t that one of these four monsters? Darius sold us one of them a while ago!”  
Red was even more furious because of these comments, imagining his brother how he must’ve suffered and how lost and betrayed he must’ve felt when he was at the auction, wretched eyes staring at him like some attraction of a freak show.  
  
… The funny thing was, back then Yellow had been the one spotting that bastard Darius and curiously asking if they should leave him there or save him and bring him down to the lair, looking at their leader who decided to rescue him. Why the shell had they done this at that time? Just why?  
“Why the fuck?!” Red growled, missing again and again, feeling one of these electric weapons strike is leg. But whenever he would turn around, he would simply miss again.  
“What’s the guys deal?”  
“A shame our boss isn’t here now! How about we catch that one and make up for our loss with the other ugly freak?”  
“We ain’t ugly!!!”  
  
Red snatched one of the many tables standing around –that surprisingly wasn’t broken yet – and flipped it over, just to kick the furniture in the direction of those fuckers. Out of three, one of them was too slow with his phasing and was smashed against the wall, just like the first had. But about six guys were still left. Another hit at his hip made Red hiss as the electricity jolted trough his muscles. Right then when another one hit his head, a large mecha-suit accompanied by the other gang appeared in the room … which apparently had also a high ceiling and entrance door like the main area. But in his anger Red hadn’t noted any details, just as he did now, his vision turning even blurrier, not only because of his rage.  
“Red hold on!”  
  
  
  
  
  
“Is your brother okay, hon?” Dolly asked Dante, who still clutched Yellow tight to his chest. He didn’t need to hold his shoulders or arms firm anymore, only grabbing the spikes on his shell to prevent him from falling over now.  
“It seems he fainted from his panic attack. We need to get out of here.” The purple turtle stated, his usual expressionless face showing great concern and empathy for his little brother. Well, he tended to show emotions more often since they last encountered their originals, but he was surprised nonetheless every time he heard his own voice faltering.  
“You don’t look good either, your arms are pretty messed up. It’s not unusual people get into brawls here, but with all the destruction, it’s likely the manager will call the cops.” Dolly gestured Dante to follow her in the storage room. He hesitated at first, not wanting to leave his other brother alone, but with Cody and that strange gang that was oddly friendly for a bunch of ruthless criminals, he would be fine … probably.  
  
Dante was glad Yellow was the second lightest of them, with blue being the lightest ( _and shortest_ ) and Red the heaviest. Though Dante didn’t weight that much more than his younger brother, it was still helpful to successfully drag him along without falling over … though he might’ve accidently dropped Yellow’s torso low enough that his head collided with the doorknob, but it was not that big of a deal in the end. His brother was too dozed off now anyway, he wouldn’t even notice if a truck drove over him.  
  
“Okay honey, let’s get you patched up first. You can lay him down there.” Dolphin pointed to a worn out old sofa, barely big enough to fit any of the turtles in them. Dante positioned his brother so he would rest against the corner and not fall over.  
“He also inflicted himself with scratches.” He noted, grabbing the first aid kit the women offered him to take care of Yellow’s wound first instead. Somehow it felt only right to do that. Perhaps this was what Donatello would do. He couldn’t care less about something like this now, but it still lingered in his mind, wondering if this was yet another trait he inherited from his original or if it was actually his own intention to empathize and take responsibility. Then again, what was the difference? The result was still the same.  
“For some big scary guys you seem very soft … and young.” Dolly mused, watching him as she grabbed one box after another to reveal a hidden exit.  
“For a bunch of gangsters the Skull Dragons are also very soft.” Dante responded, carefully bandaging a large scratch on his brother’s upper arm. “Very unusual, especially downtown. And I should know, we encountered several criminals”  
  
“Well, not everyone with criminal history is actually bad. We mostly stick together and if friends need help, we just give a fuck about laws. Any of us would kill to protect his family. And for most of us, the gang is that family, because we never turned away even if our relatives did.” She opened her cellphone, the picture of a little girl smiling at her as she attempted to text one of her friends. “There is more than one type of criminal. Committing crime to protect, survive or avenge are some of them … And as you noticed, most of us are older people and though we have not much to lose, but kids are indeed a soft spot for us … You guys are far too young to be involved in such troubles.”  
“It’s a personal matter then.” Dante understood what she meant but couldn’t bring himself to thank her or respond any further to her innuendos. He didn’t know these people and trust was still an issue for him. All he cared about now was to get his brothers out of here. However, it was fascinating how complex this topic actually was. His rational brain always marked things as particularly good or bad, with him and his brothers being the odds among them, because they were yet too young and unexperienced to understand moral and ethical to its fullest. So there were also others than bad guys like Darius and the Street Phantoms or whoever criminal that fat ass worked with.  
  
“I hate you.” Yellow mumbled, grunting as he rubbed his forehead where he the doorknob left a mark.  
“Good, you’re not dead.” Relieved, Dante now started to treat his own arms, wiping the purple goo that was his blood off first. Yellow guiltily watched him, not sure what he should do or say now, afraid he’d make it only worse. Maybe he should say sorry? “Don’t even think about apologizing now, we don’t have time for pity.”  
  
So Danny wasn’t just a smartass, but also a mind reader. If Yellow wasn’t so exhausted, he would certainly start another fight with him right here and tell him a thing or two. But he couldn’t bring himself to do pretty much anything right now. And his head hurt even more than before for some reason.  
  
  
  
“Dolly, hurry up! The cops are coming!” One of the Skull Dragon members yelled from the outside, followed by a loud crash. Dolphin had even turned up the music to drown all the noise out a little, for one reason to cover the ruckus a little and for the other to help the yellow turtle with the long tongue stay calm.  
“What?! And the others?”  
“Distracting them and the Street Phantoms. The big guy and the boy will be here in a minute.” Before Dante could ask that guy anything, he was gone again. What the hell were they doing over there? Were they okay?  
  
Yellow had the sudden urge to either vomit or sprint right out there and … and … he didn’t even know what he’d do. He was so upset and angry, yet he just didn’t had it in him to do what Red did in his place now. Maybe … he was just too scared. Though he would like to get his revenge, make them suffer, he wished so badly for it, imagining pictures of them squirming on the floor like he did, but at the same time he felt the humiliation and torture, the feeling of loneliness and desperation. And the fear to be all alone, separated from his brothers, living the life of a slave, locked away in a cage.  
His breathing became heavier. The panic was about to rise in his bones again, rattling and shaking him.  
  
Before he was able to react in any further way, however, Dan smacked his already hurting head, pulling him out of whatever trance he was in right now. His purple brother looked into his eyes, a stern and yet empathy filled gaze.  
“They’re fine. It’s gonna be fine. Forget these bastard, they aren’t worth it. Let’s get outta here.” He spoke and attempted to help Yellow on his feet again. Dolphin watched them a moment before she rushed around the small room again, shoving things from one side to the other. Part of him wanted to help and be useful, but a defensive instinct in his guts stopped him doing so, neither did Danny something to assist them. Well, they hadn’t asked for their help, so why bother? But contrary, Cody probably would say something about manners and stuff that made him feel guilty later.  
  
In the end, Yellow stumbled over to Dolphin. Instead of taking one of the boxes, he shoved the whole stack with Dante’s help to the side, who had finished bandaging his arms.  
“That’s also a way to solve a problem.” The women mentioned. “That hall leads to a hidden alley, just follow it and there’s a graffiti of our emblem on a warehouse. Just stay low for a little until the cops are gone.”  
“What about Cody and Red?” Bad enough he would run away from those fuckers again, Yellow didn’t want to leave his them behind. He knew all too well how that felt after all. And simply pulling a coward and flee was almost worse.  
Dante put a hand on his shoulder “They will join us. There’s no need to waste time, focus.”  
With gentle force the genius brother pushed yellow through the secret exit. He knew how distressed and torn the younger was but if the police caught them, there wouldn’t be any more luxury in the penthouse, only jail or worse … The imagination alone made Dante pale – or well … pinkish.

Eradication.

 

 

  
“I ain’t gonna ask how you managed to fight in that thing in there!” Red yelled over to Cody, who both changed the battle ground, throwing some of these thugs over the dance floor. “That thing makes you bigger than me!”  
Though Red was the smallest after Blue.  
“This place was built for multiple species, I think giants also want to party sometimes.” Cody dodged a hit, not really in danger with the protection of his suit, but the weapons of them could damage his suit greatly if the electrocution messed up the system. With all the recent drama that was going on Cody hadn’t had the time to upgrade the Turtle-X suit. He was glad Red wasn’t hurt that much, only limping a little and not that blind with rage anymore since Cody showed him how to properly avoid their attacks and hit them.  
  
“Ayo, lads the cops are here! Time ta scram!” Samuel announced, pointing to the windows, blue and red neon lights were emitting from the sky. The peace keepers had arrived unexpectedly fast and prepared to land with loud sirens.  
  
Giving the half conscious bastard in his grip one last punch in the face, Red dropped him and ran through the exit his brothers had disappeared with the bar lady a few minutes ago. Suspicious he didn’t hear the heavy mecha turtle thing following him, he turned around.  
“I guess you’re right, I don’t fit with the suit everywhere. I’ll think of something else, go get your brothers, I catch up later! Just head for the penthouse and don’t wait for me.” Cody instructed, offering him an encouraging and yet very fake smile. Red knew right away the boy was lying. He wouldn’t find another exit. Abandoning the suit would give him away too, there was no point in running away and even he was smart enough to notice that. But telling from the look of his eyes, Cody at least had a plan B.  
  
It was funny how Red was the most doubtful of his brothers about Cody and now his stupid protective instincts kicked in, not wanting to leave the irritating, uptight pipsqueak here all alone. Despite his nature, he was hesitating.  
Then a sudden shadowy figure flickered before his vision, showing a man with dark hair, a mocking grin and also armed with a hockey stick. Brave, stubborn and loyal, just like the mini-version over there.  
“Fine. Don’tcha dare get busted, alright?” Despite his concern, Red turned around smirking. He heard how Cody commanded the Skull Dragons to leave as well to not get arrested. That boy was too nice for his own good. So much kindness usually grossed Red out, but now … not so much.  
  
“I will, no worries!” He couldn’t hear him anymore, but a soon as his accomplices were gone, Cody deactivated the suit and made no effort or whatsoever to escape, he just stayed in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by Street Phantoms, his arms folded behind his back as he waited for the police to come.  
  
  
  
  
“Mister Cody Jones, why am I not surprised?” Instead of the familiar police robot, a Triceraton in a police uniform stepped through the entrance along with other policemen. The very same, not so drunken anymore, Triceraton, he had kicked out of O’Neil Tech before, after busting him and that woman.  
  
Normally Cody never cursed, but there was only one thing crossing his mind right now: Holy Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, despite taking much longer for this chapter than planned, I still made a huge progress. I finally have all the real Names selected xD They won't be revealed that soon though, just letting you know. But I have all my exams done and summer vacation is about to start soon, yay~


	19. Consequences

“So what is this all about, Mister Jones?” The Triceraton with the name tag ‘Officer Zack’ asked Cody, who was more than surprised and not as confident about his plan as he was before.  
“I … uh …,” Collecting his thoughts and clearing his throat Cody reported. “I found out some of the culprits, that were involved in the slavery case I helped the Peacekeepers with, had escaped imprisonment and were hiding here. After I arrived, they tried to escape and we got into a fight.”  
“We?” The officer critically looked down on Cody, scribbling something on his digital notepad.  
“Yeah uhm … Constable Biggles should know more about this matter, but I have currently four roommates due to another running case, involving Darius Dunn” Cody tried his best to stay calm, but he couldn’t help but cringe a little because he remembered the moment he threw that Triceraton out earlier. He didn’t knew about that. Was this guy new? “I’m sorry, I think we didn’t have the chance to meet yet, I guess?”  
“I was transferred from Detroit to support Officer Biggles and his force, likewise my fiancée the new head secretary of the New Yorker department. Apparently the crime rate raised since last month and your uncle seems to play an important role in those incidents.” The Triceraton kept a stern gaze and ordered his troops to investigate the area further and also arresting the knocked out criminals that were still laying on the ground around them.  
  
Cody knew why. Since Splinter and the Turtles left, there was no one to fight the bad guys and Biggles was too … Well, things didn’t go as quick and efficient without ninja power, so to say. But he couldn’t afford to become a vigilante like his great grandfather and his friends, so he had to follow the law and the orders from the police. Cody did a great job, but he hadn’t enough time to concentrate on fighting crime all day because he had to lead his company now and it wasn’t a piece of cake all alone either. If Starlee was here now, things would at least be a little easier. Besides, she knew O’Neil Tech better than him anyway.  
He still wondered why that guy was simply telling him all this without questioning it, though. Considering how gross he behaved before, it was hard for Cody to imagine him as a respectable and sober policeman. He seemed just so suspicious and Splinter taught him to rely on his instincts. And right now, his instincts were screaming at him.  
  
“Well, I’m afraid since I’m the one responsible for this district and therefore in charge as chief I have to sue you, which will have consequences” The Triceraton was speaking as if it was quite obvious and in a monotone voice, it send goosebumps down Cody’s back.  
“What? Sue me?!”  
“Of course. You didn’t inform the Peacekeepers, therefore you acted vigilant without a direct order. Plus property damage, the manager will definitely want replacement for that and I assume you and your ‘ _roommates’_ are just as responsible for the destruction, especially with that mecha suit. And last but not least; you’re currently in a building that contains a brothel, a pub, a disco and several other adult business. And you, Mister Jones, are still underage. I don’t wanna know how you got in here in the first place”  
“I … that was just self-defense and …” Cody could feel his heartbeat in his ears.  
“Then tell me, why did you and your friends come **here**? Have you been the one to attack and destroy the furniture first? We can ask multiple witnesses and that suit with its weaponry belongs officially to you, doesn’t it?” Officer Zack made a showing gesture around them. “Young boy, you have no idea what kind of trouble you’re in right now. All those evidences would be enough reason to arrest you, because they make you as much as a suspected criminal like those Street Phantoms here”  
“I’m sure we can find a solution! Just let me speak to Constable Biggles, he’ll understand –“  
“This isn’t his matter, kid! Under normal circumstances, I would inform your parents or another family member. You’re also only temporarily CEO of your company until a better placeholder will be in charge until you’re of age, is that correct?”  
  
“I … yes … Yes that’s correct.” Cody knew when he had lost a battle. Right now was such a realization. His head dropped in defeat and began to pound. He was so upset and mad at himself, that officer and at just everything right now, he had no idea what to say. That Zack was oddly well informed about him. But what could he do about this? He was standing here, all on his own. And he was the one that told Red to leave because he could handle it. Because he had a plan! … Damn, why did he let them convince him to come here? If he hadn’t let himself be played like that by the Dark Turtles, nothing of this would’ve happened! Since he took responsibility for them everything got … No! No, scratch that. They didn’t force him or anything, it was all his own fault.  
  
“Very well. I guess we’ll have to negotiate a fitting solution. For now, you’re … under house arrest. Or so to say; you’re grounded for now. I recommend you to return to your penthouse and stay available until Officer Biggles gives you further instructions. You position as CEO of O’Neil Tech will be dismissed from this moment on. Now, about your suit …”  
  
  
  
  
Cody walked slowly. The Turtle-X suit was confiscated for the next week. His world was falling apart and he had no clue how this was even possible. In just one night he literally lost everything. His permission to fight crime, his suit, the control over his own company, he had no caretaker and yet he got grounded! Grounded for fucks sake! Better than being arrested, but that was just ridiculous. He didn’t like nor trusted this Triceraton one bit!  
  
“I can pout later … First I have to find my _roommates_ ” He spoke to himself, rubbing the dirt off of his face. It was a long way home on foot, but the last thing he wanted was to be escorted by the police. And if he heard correctly, it was about to rain soon. Loud thunder growled above him. “Great, as if my day wasn’t bad enough already”  
His clothes were ruined, now he would become wet … at times like these, he wished Serling was there to lecture him about his carelessness and complain about everything while he could be the one to just smile about it and shrug it off.  
“I am so miserable, whining about everything like a lost little child all the time. I really can’t get anything done by myself, can I?” Clenching his fists in frustration, Cody kicked some garbage out of his way. He wondered if it would’ve been better if he had just stayed isolated in his own walls, reading about past times, without all the responsibility and worries.  
The others should be home by now. If they returned there that was. He wouldn’t blame them if they left as well. They never wanted to stay with him in the first place. Why did he offer them to stay with him anyway? Just because he was lonely? Because he simply felt they had something good in them and deserved better? Because they reminded him of his family? Maybe all of that …  
The Turtles didn’t even stay a year and for him it felt like he lost everything all over again.  
  
Hugging himself, Cody stopped to look at the dark sky, small raindrops started to fall already. If it wouldn’t mess up the timeline he’d gladly just give everything here up to go with them to the past. But that was forbidden. They also weren’t allowed to stay in the future forever, because the events in the past needed to happen. Still, he would be happy enough if he could at least talk to them once more or let them visit him one more time. He had to repair the timewindow again anyway, because Serling was – Wait!  
“Of course!” Cody kept going. Faster than before. “If I’m grounded and not allowed to do my job, neither lead my company, I can use that time to focus on the timewindow! I can bring Serling back and meet them again! They can help me set things right again!”  
  
He was running by now, still holding on to his fighting spirit and smirking enthusiastically. Last time may have been an accident, but now he just knew it was the right thing to do.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“I’m telling you, that boy is no smarter than us if he thinks staying behind was a good idea!”  
Red paced in circles. They couldn’t even get in the apartment, even if they wanted to, since they had no authorization to enter, as they soon noticed.  
“Isn’t it more like Blue’s job to worry, though?” Yellow watched his big brother while he shifted nervously as well. He was hungry and wanted nothing more than eat some oranges and go to bed. Today was the worst party history had ever seen and he wanted to forget it. If Dante could read his mind – which Yellow still tended to doubt – he most certainly would agree.  
“Shut up! That kid has no idea how to survive in rotten places like there! What if they imprisoned him?! What if his so called plan was only a bluff?! He might as well be hurt or even much more worse, dead!”  
“Calm down Red, your bad grammar is showing” Danny was able to caught Red’s coming fist with his tail before it could hit his face. “First, the police wouldn’t hurt or kill someone like Cody. Secondly, what exactly do you think we would be able to do? They might as well just arrest us too. We’re more likely to die in that case than him”  
“Stop spilling nerd stuff! What should we do then, huh?!”  
“Maybe stop yelling and throwing our fists around for a start, because the people will call the police before we get to them first!”  
“You’re yelling too!”  
“I wouldn’t have to, if you’d calm down!”  
“Well you can wait for that all night!”  
“The night is partly over, it’s actually early morning you idiot!”  
  
By now the youngest brother had surrendered and sat down, watching other citizens change sidewalks because of them and heard people in the houses above complaining about the noise and that they wanted to sleep at 3 in the morning. Yellow ignored his older brothers arguing and suppressed a yawn. He was too exhausted to care about anything right now. That didn’t mean he wasn’t worried. But he agreed with Dan, what could they possibly do to help Cody? Fighting criminals was one thing, fighting cops another. He hadn’t been really useful at all today, what was he supposed to do then?  
  
Sighing, Yellow rested his head on his hand. If he wasn’t so hungry, he’d fall asleep right here and now, despite the rain and even with the other two yelling. He was used to it anyway.  
With half open eyes, he almost didn’t notice that blurry colorful spot in the distance, coming closer and closer. But the red, probably hair, caught his attention and Yellow recognized their friend, even though he really looked very different with the shredded clothing and dirt all over him.  
“There he is! Still alive and mostly unharmed!” Yellow exclaimed loud enough for his brothers to notice and pointing in the direction.  
“See? He’s fine.” Dante crossed his arms as if he had known it.  
“You never said he would be fine, bastard!” It was hard to tell, but Red was relieved. He didn’t like to worry about others and not being able to do anything else … Come to think of it, that barely happened since they were created and yet it felt all too familiar and hated as it did now.  
  
The Jones boy came to a halt in front of them, completely out of breath. “There you are! Wait, why are you … Oh, sorry I completely forgot you can’t get in yet”  
“You walked all the way here? What happened?” Danny noticed the absence of his Turtle-X.  
“Got confiscated … it’s a long story, but it looks like I ended up grounded instead and pretty much fired for now” He managed to get out between his gasps.  
“Now would you look at that, who’s influencing who? Seems like he’s becoming a bad guy just like us!” Yellow cheered, his usual maniac smile back due to such irony. Though Dante preferred his brother that way instead of being all depressed, he still smacked him.  
“At least you have a lot time now to tell us what happened.” Red commented as well, daring his genius brother with a glare to smack him as well and he’d knot his tail to a pretzel.  
“Let’s get in first” Dante recommended instead, rolling his eyes.  
“Yeah I’m wet, hungry and tired!” Yellow waited for Cody to open the door and walked in right away. “Man, what a night. I can’t wait to see Blue’s face when we tell him what he missed!” He mused, almost his energetic self again. Or maybe that was what he wanted to let the others see.  
  
  
As they arrived in the main area, Cody announced he would order some food and in the meantime they could properly patch up their wounds. He wanted especially to have a look on Dante’s and Yellow’s injuries.  
Yellow shrugged it off, walking into the kitchen to snatch some fruits and calling out for Blue.  
“Hey bro, we’re back!” But there was no answer. That was strange. There was no way their oldest brother would be sound asleep, knowing his other brothers were still out there in potential danger. Normally he wouldn’t have even left them behind, which was already strange itself.  
  
“Hey, cut the ninja crap and come out!” Red called now as well. Again no answer. “Shit, what ta hell?”  
“Wait a second” Dante’s expression widened in shock. “If we weren’t able to get in because we had no permission, neither could he!”  
All of them looking at each other in unison, they went to the panorama window.  
“How could I forget something like that? I should’ve told him! He has to be near the apartment somewhere!” Cody checked the security cameras but there was no doubt when he rewinded the videotapes at every possible entrance.  


 

Blue had never been near the penthouse this whole night. He was gone.


	20. For The Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing another name attached to a decision one might think is for the best.

It was only 5 in the morning, yet the penthouse hadn’t been livelier in what felt like ages. Just not in a positive way.  
“This can’t be … He would never disappear just like that!” Yellow had searched every place he knew Blue liked in the penthouse, even the roof. It was unnecessary since the chance of him being actually here was zero but he did anyway because he didn’t know what else to do instead. Why was he so goddamn useless the whole time?! “He can’t be gone …”  
  
“He must have a darn good reason. Or something happened” Red clenched his fists. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was too exhausted to keep up his rampage. With all his anger used up in the fight with the Street Phantoms, he was too tired to throw another rampage and only leaned against the wall, hidden in its shadow to shield him from the light of the rising sun you could see up here even that early.  
  
“Blue is the least of us to get in trouble, he wouldn’t act that careless if he could prevent it” Dante assumed, his thoughts and imagination running wild. His tail was wagging like a metronome, revealing the owners true worries, even if he tried to keep a neutral and collected expression.  
“So maybe he got attacked? What if the other Street Punk guys got him?! We have to go out and look for him!”  
  
“Calm down, Yellow! Guys, we can’t achieve anything if we don’t focus now” Cody tried to talk them out of their panic, but they just wouldn’t calm down. And there was nothing he could do about it. He had no permission to go outside. He could, but if they busted him he’d be in even bigger trouble and without his suit there was little he could do. And technically he couldn’t let them leave just like that either. It wasn’t like he feared they would get him in trouble … it was more like a feeling the Peacekeepers wouldn’t treat them well if they caught him. But even if he would try to explain it to them, they wouldn’t listen now.  
  
“But he’s right, we have to go look for him!” Gathering up his remaining energy, Red pushed himself off the wall, immediately regretting stepping into the light that hurt his eyes.  
“In your condition? Common Red, you know we’re not useful right now!” The genius pulled him back, pointing at his upper body. Their suits were long gone in the trashcan and because they had no armor back then, they all looked like shit, especially the hothead. It seemed like Danny and Red would get into a fight again, both mentally on edge.  
“You think I’m just gonna sit here and do nothin’?!”  
“That would actualle be quite more helpful!”  
“ **STOP IT!** ” Yellow yelled and interrupted them before things would escalate again. He was sick of all the desasters today. Why were they so messed up as brothers? This whole family thing worked different, he was sure. Without Blue, no even with him, they couldn’t get along one full day without fighting, arguing, roaring and destroying. They were all tired, exhausted, desperate ... This didn’t make anything better.  
  
Both went quiet. Their younger brother looked as if he was about to cry, already deep in thought again. If he still had the nerves and energy for it he probably would tear up, but he just squished his eyes shut instead. “We won’t get him back if we keep fighting and don’t think of a plan together or … just do something as a team. Please?”  
Dante and Red nodded, their big brother senses were just stronger than their egos.  
“We should rest for a couple hours. The sun is already rising and we don’t function in daylight to our full potential anyway” Dante offered.  
“And after resting ‘n eating we go look for him at sunset. Blue’s strong, he’ll survive until then and there ain’t that many places he can hide from us” Red added. Yellow was satisfied with that and sank down on one of the sofas, a small burden lifting from the shoulders of his brothers. They didn’t want another sibling in trouble or distress .  
  
“You really want to roam around New York alone?” Cody was responsible for them but he knew how they probably felt. He could not and simply wouldn’t stop them, if they really wanted to go. That was the deal after all, no force or whatsoever that kept them here. And despite his worries or the problems with the police, he had no right to tell them what to do in this case.  
“Ya got a better idea, kid?”  
“I … I’m not entirely sure. I can get us help, but I need time for that.”  
“Well ya have the whole day. Dunno ‘bout you two, but I’m going ta bed” Though Red doubted he would get any sleep at all and hit the gym sooner or later, he left the room.  
  
Yellow was already half asleep, while Dante and Cody looked at each other surprised how worn out he really was, which also made them realize their own exhaustion even more.  
“I’m not sure if I will like that idea of yours but … you should probably get a rest too.” Dante was really drained himself, but he had a feeling what the boy was about to try. And he didn’t know yet if he should like and support it or not. Right now, he didn’t bother to listen to his pride and inner voice, like, at all. That kind of coffee he’d need to stay straight up right now wasn’t even invented yet, so he also called it a day.  
“No, I have enough time to sleep later,” Cody suppressed a yawn “I’m going to repair the timewindow, maybe even upgrade it with the left parts of the timeportal and try to contact Donatello or Serling. If I’m lucky, we … might get … backup”  
The boy was more yawning than talking now and Dante left him with those ambitions alone as he tried to lift his brother of the sofa. Without success. So he did what every good brother would do and left him half laying on the floor, planting a pillow beneath his head and throwing a spare blanket of him.  
  
Cody was gone, surely to his lab, when Dante was done and he stared won at Yellow. So much happened today, much more than they should have to deal with and could comprehend with their little knowledge of existence. All he could think of was that he … somehow should have done more to fix this. To prevent it. It felt like he had let down everyone. And it made him so mad at himself.  
Left with those thoughts, Danny crushed next to his brother on the ground with just a pillow and grateful for a remote so he could lower the window shutters and sank into a dreamless sleep. At least for a little while.  
  
  
  


  
  
  
He sat down in a dark room. Though no sunlight shone through, he felt that pounding pain rushing in his head and it was hard to keep his eyes open. As much as he hated him, he was right. And this was for the best. The best solution to his situation. Better him than his brothers. And what was he supposed to do anyway? It wasn’t like he could just change who he was. And his true self was meant to be the bad guy. As much as he envied his original and his life, at the same time, it felt just wrong to take the same place.  
  
This was for the best. The best solution. The best for his brothers. Because he was the main source, the root of the issue.  
  
The dark version of Leonardo absently caressed the cover of an old book. It was so old, it was completely out of worn paper, almost everything in it illegible, except the title.  
“Leonardo Da Vinci” the clone read out loud. Not sure how exactly this book went into his possession, it was just there, never noticed or payed attention to in this dark and large place. It was just there, with all the other antique and yet worthless things left behind long, long ago, either forgotten or abandoned by someone. And its disappearance never made a difference, there were probably millions of better **_copies_**. This one had no value, didn’t made a difference and …  
  
Damn, why was he mourning over some rotten papers? He should be pleased. This was what he desired, what he wanted from the beginning. His purpose, his … true nature. Every cell of his entire being was made to be that way, he considered himself to be that way, it was the only way for him to stop hurting … and potentially hurting others. Which was more likely. Because if it wasn’t him … there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Not as a leader, not as a big brother. Nothing. It was meant to be.  
  
Still, he already missed them. Regardless how much Blue tried to convince himself to just forget about those doubts and feelings his enemies had planted in him, influenced him and his brothers, he couldn’t shake it off. The longing, the feel that he wasn’t complete, wasn’t happy. It should be right! Why would someone like him have or need to be Happy anyway?! But …  
A sudden rush of anger flooded him and he was willed to tear this bunch of garbage in his hands apart. But he stopped.  
  
_“Why Dante, of all names?” he heard his own voice ring in his head._  
Another one, sounding like his genius brother answered short after “Because Italian names seem to fit us best, and it was the only anagram from Donatello I liked.”  
“Last time I checked you hated the Turtles and using a name made out of your original … feels quite wrong”  
“I actually don’t hate my original, I’m more curious. And since we’re their clones, wouldn’t it make more sense?”  
“It makes you less unique than you give yourself credit for!”  
“So are you with your comparing to Leonardo and talking about sharing and loyalty”  
“It doesn’t! It’s my own decision and … Ugh, I get where you’re going. If you and Mike – uhm, Smiley, like it, then go ahead … Danny”  
“Now that was just on purpose to mock me!”  
“It’s better to remember and pronounce, deal with it, Dan”  
  
A shallow and resigned laugh echoed through the large and crumped room. He must’ve been really desperate if his head kept replaying old memories. There was no turning back. It was too late, He made up his mind. Only he was needed by him, not the others. He would make sure of that. It was for the best.  
Yet his fingers kept caressing over the title, him staring at faded letters deep in thought. An unknown nostalgic and bittersweet urge caused him to lift his hand up to the device attached were his left eye was hidden beneath since … forever. It didn’t just provide him with the ability to see at night or focus and zoom in on things, he could use it as a connection to other things like communication and limited internet researches to analyze. He remembered Darius once mentioning how useful their weapons and technology actually was, only that their incapability and lack of intellect spoiled those gifts greatly. However, Blue was smart enough to know by now how to use it, he just preferred not to … no, not because it wasn’t honorable or he hated how it seemed to question his natural gifted abilities and judgment!  
  
Without giving it another thought, Blue searched for anagrams with the same letters of the Name. Of course most were just garbage, he ignored everything including Leonardo variations and after a while he wondered, why he even did all that.But he had still a lot of time to kill till nighttime and the urge wouldn’t subside on its own, he assumed.  
  
Then there were five letters to catch his attention. It was also an Italian name and decribed the color blue … but also meant ‘the jealous one’ and ‘be livid with anger or jealousy’ … it surprised him how fitting it actually was and suited his new old ego.  
“Livio” Pleased with his research, he deactivated that thing and took it off. It was weird, because he wore it even for bathing and sleeping. His vision was crystal clear … in the darkness. His one eye not disturbed by red shading, without the pressure of cold steel around his head. The headache was a little better, but he was still tired. And hungry. His stomach craved pancakes and fruits and other tasty luxury he would never get to enjoy anymore … man, he had become weak in those two weeks.  
  
“Vio … _Leo_ … Fuck, I’m so messed up” Livio rubbed his eyes, sensitive to the cold touch on his hot and aching eyelids. There was no turning back now, he had made up his mind. Leonardo was right back then, when he told him this story.  
  
This was the best decision. The best for his brothers. Because he was the scorpion … and it was his nature. That’s all there was to it. That was him. In the past, now and in the future.  
  
He kept telling himself that for the millionth time. The best for his brother … the best for him. It was for the best. It was for the best. It was for the best.  
His eyes, however, betrayed him. They didn’t stop burning. Didn’t stop aching. No matter if he removed his tech-eyepatch. No matter if no light disturbed him in the darkness. No matter how hard he rubbed them. That didn’t keep his eyes from tearing up for another time as he repeated his mantra.  
  
It wasn’t for the best … it was his only chance to protect them _. There was no other or better solution_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, forget what I said two chapters ago, here you have the second revealed name. It's Livio! Not so bad if I may add ... could've been worse, but not less creative than just "Blue" at least :D  
> And I like that the nickname Vio has the same ring to it as Leo, just like Dante with Danny/Dan for Donnie/Don.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it~


	21. Through The Looking Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting after a long time, with Cody right between them, seems inevitable now.

The first thing Dante noticed, after he woke up, was that he felt pretty comfy despite having slept on the floor. His night vision in the dimmed room was pretty good actually, it just needed a little time to get used to it. As soon as he gathered his strength and remembered why his arms hurt like shell and were bandaged, he looked around. The blanket above him wasn’t there before, just like the second pillow tugged under his head. He wondered who could’ve done that, but even if he wanted to ask his little brother, who he thought would sleep right next to him on the couch, he realized it was empty. Yellow wasn’t here anymore.  
  
A sudden fear aroused in his mind. What if his only little brother was gone too now? Considering his mental and physical state Yellow was in earlier, the genius brother sat straight up immediately and glanced around the room. The sofa was torn a little because of his spiky shell and the ground between it and him wasn’t that cold, so he wasn’t gone for that long. Though Dante could use something to eat and maybe even a shower, his first priority was to find Yellow and check on him. He just wanted to be sure. Just wanted his hidden panic to go away. He didn’t like it. The fear to be useless and not able to fix or figure out something.  
  
His back ached as he stood up. Silly, how fast he got used to the soft and big bed in their guestroom. He had almost forgot how it felt like to sleep on old worn mattresses in the lair.   
Before he went to search for his brother however, he checked the time. They decided to rest around 5 a.m. and now it was 6 … p.m.  
“Shell, I slept for 13 hours?!” It wasn’t that much of a drama though, since they wanted to look for blue after sunset and it was still time until the sun disappeared again. Damn, what did he miss?   
  
The guest room was nearby, so he decided to look there first. But not even Red was in it anymore. So he probably hit the gym already … maybe. And if he was lucky, Yellow would be there too. Or in the kitchen … or in the living room watching TV … or hiding somewhere again at his multiple hiding spots around the penthouse he used to also hoard food. He really was something else, but considering his original, Danny shouldn’t be surprised about it anymore.  
  
Arriving at the gym, he found it empty too. No Yellow and no Red in sight. The light hint of panic sparked in his thought again, worrying his stupid brothers might’ve considered going out to look for Blue without him, in plain sunlight. That would be so stupid, of course only those two ho never thought things through before acting would pull something like that.   
It wasn’t like they were vampires or completely useless. They had attacked during daytime too after all, fighting the turtles. But since Sh’Okanabo was gone and they left Darius behind things got complicated. They were clones made with alien DNA and the constantly more weakened state in plain sunlight could be some downside to their monster powers. And they felt better hiding in the shadows, their strength – but also their aggressive and brutal powers – grew with the night. Probably another reason why they got into so many arguments. But that was still a theory he had yet to confirm. He wouldn’t take any risks though, even if he wanted to search for Blue ASAP.  
Dante just hoped his two emotional sensitive brothers wouldn’t be so reckless to do something like that. He knew they would most likely look for him in the old lair or some other obvious place, but if one was already missing, none of them would leave another brother behind. At least Dante would prefer that … after all, Yellow could still be mad at him and his feelings were a mystery to the genius, no matter how hard he tried to understand him.  
  
Without any other clue, Dante made his way to the lab, eager to find Cody there or at least any trace of someone. Fortunately a loud yelp suddenly echoed through the corridor, coming from the same direction the lab was: _“Master Cody! My goodness, am I relieved to see your face again!”_  
It sounded like that robot that used to be here too. Dante had already wondered where that thing was anyway, since Cody never looked really comfortable to talk about it whenever he mentioned it. But then, while he followed the cheering but vastly subsiding shouts, there was another person speaking. One he would recognize anywhere.  


_“What do you mean you’re no longer O’Neil Tech’s CEO?!”_  


Danny felt the goosebumps all over his body as he heard a voice, similar to his own coming from that place and he froze. This couldn’t be … no way.  
The curiosity got the better of him and he rushed forward, ready to bust in the door and look for himself to be one hundred percent sure, but he almost tripped over his own feet when he spotted both Red and Yellow gathered behind the lab entry, which was only half way open but enough to see Cody inside, talking to a floating, flickering window, showing six familiar faces he hadn’t seen in months and he held his breath.  
  
His brothers turned around to look at him, both having matching expressions on their faces and not sure how to comprehend this situation. Maybe they looked at him because they thought he knew what to do. He was the genius, THEIR genius, he would know … right?  
But when they noticed he was still as clueless and shocked like them, they stepped a little to the side, so Dante could also peak properly inside and witness the conversation.  
  
  
  
  
“It’s … a complicated story” Cody admitted, brushing a hand through his hair. He was exhausted and tired, not having any sleep this night and working like crazy nonstop at the time window. Dark half-moons under his burning eyes proved that fact.  
  
It was an unsteady connection at first, only cracked sounds and muffled voices coming from the other side, but Serling and Donatello must’ve helped somehow and as it turned out, Serling had already worked on a time machine of his own, that had caught Cody’s signal because it was the same timeline the robot intended to travel too, of course. Otherwise, it would’ve taken ages, he was sure.  
_“Calm down, Cody-san. Take your time”_ Master Splinter suggested, stroking his furry beard deep in thoughts but with his ears peaked up, giving him his full attention. Dante could’ve sworn that rat had already spotted them in the background. That old man was creepy … at the same time, Dan wondered what a dark version of him would be like. Or more, what having a father would be like. The memories and feelings he had towards him were blurry and dull and not even his own, he was just a clone after all. Maybe his mind just craved for something real and more individual?  
  
“Alright so … things were a little … difficult since you’re gone. And at first I was sure I could handle everything all on my own, without your and Serlings help, but I was wrong. All the responsibility was getting over my head, running the company on my own, fighting bad guys along with the Peacekeepers and taking care of … other business”  
_“Taking responsibility is always overwhelming, especially when you put the burden all on yourself”_ Leonardo agreed, understanding his situation. _“There’s no shame to ask for help, though.”_  
_“Oh, look whose talkin’”_ Raphael retorted, snorting sarcastically. But their Sensei shot his sons a warning glance before any argument or fight could occur _. “Where’s Starlee, anyway?”_  
Even when being dead tired, Cody still blushed a little “She uhm … she’s on her home planet to study. She only works at the company during semester breaks”  
Serling, the ever observing and caring robot of his master, looked worried and a little guilty. _“I am terribly sorry, Master Cody. If it hadn’t be for my disappearance, that amount of pressure wouldn’t have become so overwhelming for you, all alone”  
_The redhead just smiled tiredly, only now realizing how much he really had missed the voice of the one who practically raised him and never left his side since he was a toddler. He could almost feel his sore eyes sting as they became glassy and wet.  
  
It was then that he decided to drop the big news. “I wasn’t all alone. Not entirely … I spent a lot of time cooperating with the Peacekeepers to arrest some criminals, as I mentioned”  
_“Just like his good ‘ol great grandfather”_ Raph mused, smiling a little. In their time, the wedding wasn’t even more than a week ago and the freshly married couple was still on their honeymoon, so it was safe to speak without fearing to alter time by surprisingly encountering Cody. He knew when his grandmother Shadow was born, but that would just pressure them further or … whatever, it would just become weirder and more complicated than his actual problem itself already was.  
  
“Yeah well, even New York in the future could use ninja power,” Cody went on telling his story “Everything was just fine, I was able to find traces of my … of Darius. He’s still hiding somewhere, making business with other shady people, even the Street Phantoms”  
Michelangelo on the other side of the screen made a sour face, remembering all the trouble they had with Jammerhead and his crew … and how unpleasant his first arrival in the future was because of them, almost being sold as a slave. That sucked.  
_“What kind of business does fatso and that freak have with each other? Still sellin’ weapons to Triceratons?”_ It wasn’t hard to tell what Raph thought about them, but he got another glance from his Sensei, probably because of his choice of language and Cody went on.  
“I’m not sure, but we also followed the Street Phantom’s traces and could stop them from a huge slavery shipping to another planet before the ship took off. Among them was … Michelangelo’s clone”  
  
  
Yellow growled at that, clenching his fists. Dante was able to calm him down a little by putting a hand on his shoulder. It seemed like neither of them knew how to act now, seeing their originals again after such long time and not sure if they were on the same side or not, which would show soon enough.  
  
  
_“Really?! Woah … is that dude okay?”_ Mikey, despite the differences and fights they had, sounded sincerely worried, like he really cared or something.  
_“Why would he be sold as a slave? I thought the Dark Turtles were important for Darius’ shenanigans?”_ Leonardo commented, sounding a little more suspicious but still … concerned. It was hard to tell how he thought about their clones, since that last encounter with his double. Or more his betrayal, if you could put it that way.  
“Well, Yellow told me that with you guys being gone, he had no use for them anymore and therefore decided to at least make a little profit before getting rid of him. Maybe so he could spend less money on food and other things, I’m not sure.”  
_“Wait, **Yellow**? And he told you that?”_ Donatello’s eyes went wide “Don’t tell me ...”  
“He passed out due to exhaustion and I didn’t want the police to imprison him or doing … worse. So I told them I would take care of him and his brothers showed up not much later and they’ve been living here for about two weeks now”  
Cody ducked his head when he heard Serling screech in shock, asking his master if he had lost his mind to let such filthy and dangerous monsters live with him, while Mikey gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin in response.  
_“That’s it! Master Cody, I’m coming home immediately.”_  
  
  
Meanwhile the other Turtles heard their originals, their father and that robot franticly talk and ask the boy several questions about them, Splinter only asking if they changed since last time and how their wellbeing was. Dante couldn’t understand why that old rat cared about that anyway.  
  
  
“These guys are actually really not that bad. Sure, they fight a lot and behave more animalistic and harsh but I think they just don’t understand the concept of good and bad quite well. Like, a clone only possesses limited knowledge of their original he was build after, with blurry and short memories that form the personality and abilities however you like, but they’re still kinda newborns, not knowing about morality and other things … In fact, they are actually a little more different than you guys than I thought,” Despite his exhaustion Cody sounded kind of passionate about telling his observations and experiences with the clones, as if he was talking like some proud big brother or father or something “Yellow has the same taste like Mikey with music, videogames and food, but he can’t read and write well and therefore didn’t enjoy comics before as I found out, but his agility and empathy is the same as Mikey’s, if not better because of his DNA and sensitivity. He has a tendency to hide if he’s upset … and he hoards food”  
_“I’m not sensitive!”_ Mikey complained, only to be pet on the head by his red clad brother in a mocking behavior.   
  
“And Dante, Donatello’s clone, is really into horror, occult and anime stuff. And even if he pretends to not care and can be very sarcastic, he’s just as coffee addicted and spoils Yellow frequently.”  
_“You should take an example form that, Donnie!”  
“Hey, I do plenty things for you just because you keep annoying me about it, remember who fixed you skateboard for the millionth time yesterday?”  
“… Okay, point taken.”_  
  
“Red is also pretty similar to Raph but at the same time he isn’t. He looks pretty mad all the time, but he’s very protective, even of me and I thought he would never like me” Cody nervously rubbed his neck, as no one questioned that. Mikey swallowed his third attempt to comment that. In favor of his health. Because Raph’s hand still rested on his neck and the pressure increased as if he could read his mind.  
  
“Blue is … really a lot like you, Leo. But more distant and just won’t open up to me and … he just disappeared all of a sudden. Yesterday we were on a party and the guys tagged along, but he wasn’t feeling very well and went home, but I forgot to give him permission to enter the apartment and the video footage showed that he never actually arrived here the whole evening. Meanwhile we got into a fight with some members of the Street Phantoms in a shady bar downtown and when the police showed up I … got into a little trouble.”  
_“Okay, wait! Hold on, you mentioned a little of that earlier, but what were you doing in a bar, you’re underage?”_ Donny scolded him. Splinter also expressed a sound of disapproval.  
_“Master Cody, have these monsters already influenced you that badly?!”_  
“The guys meant well, they wanted to cheer me up after the party kinda got ruined by … well, the guests didn’t reacted like I hoped they would towards them. And that policeman, the Triceraton Zack, was also there with his fiancée. And since I have no caretaker and I’m underage they ‘grounded’ me and the company’s management is now … I don’t know, it’s strange. First that party that was organized by someone and I wasn’t informed about anything revolving the guest list and the exact cause, these two just appearing out of nowhere. And now both Zack and that woman control the company and keep me on a short leash. He even confiscated the Turtle-X!”  
  
Splinter, who had listened carefully to the huge amount of information, kept stroking his beard, his eyes closed. _“Perhaps it was part of a greater plan, not fully thought through or maybe too rushed for unknown circumstances but there could be more reason behind their actions than we assume”  
_“I know! I researched and found almost nothing about the woman and that Zack got only promoted recently and his reasoning sounded fishy to begin with. It was just too … rehearsed. And I have no idea why they would come to a party at my company, they never introduced themselves to me and have nothing to do with O’Neil Tech or me anyway”  
_“Whatever is going on, we’ll definitely help you with it. Something tells me, your uncle might also be more involved in this”_ And of course, Leonardo and the other considered Cody as part of their family as much as he did.   
_“Yeah, I’m sure with the connection we build and with Serling’s time machine we should be able to come back in no time”_ Donatello assured.  
“Don’t you mean ‘come forth’? You know, because we’re going ‘back to the future’?” Mikey questioned, grinning at his puns and doing finger guns towards his genius brother, who facepalmed.  
_“Mikey, I swear to god –“_ Raph started threatening him, but he was cut off by Leonardo shushing both of them.  
  
  
The three other clone didn’t hear any of that anymore, because Yellow, in a sudden rush of anger, turned around, his big spikey shell scraping the door loudly as he left, soon followed by Red and Dante.  
The sound was loud enough to draw Cody’s and the other’s attention and they looked towards the exit, only seeing the retreating shells of Cody’s recent roommates.  
“Maybe I should’ve told them earlier” Cody mused, massaging his temples as his tiredness reminded him once again why a teenager shouldn’t stay awake and work nonstop for about 12 hours straight. “I’ll be right back, how much time do you think you need?”  
_“A couple of hours in your time period maybe.”_  
Cody was incredibly relieved but at the same time, he felt the tension that was between the original and the clone Turtles and he hoped, this would work out. He didn’t want these weeks to be for nothing and his new friends were already pretty upset enough … Knowing his luck, the hard times were far from over now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I should update the tags, now that the original Turtles play a greater role in the plot :D


	22. Back in the future

Cody wasn’t worried to leave his friends with the time window still open. He knew they were still familiar with everything in the penthouse and as long as the connection was strong, he didn’t need to do anything right now, so he just focused on finding his three other Turtle friends, his euphoria starting to wear off and being replaced with worry and a hint of frustration.  
  
“Guys?” It was surprising how they could just disappear this silently because they usually made a lot of noise compared to their originals … wait, they didn’t like to be compared. Right. “Dante? Yellow? Red?”  
  
The silence was nerve wrecking and he was so not used to that anymore. Maybe it was because of his sleep deprivation, but Cody became a little anxious. Blue was already missing and he didn’t want the others to leave too. He just had this feeling they might think he would push them away, now that the ‘real’ Turtles would come back. At least Cody tried to imagine how he would feel if he were in their place. And it wasn’t really a secret they tended to act like children throwing tantrums. And the mind of a child was both simple and complicated at the same time. He should know.  
  
Cody remembered he still was able to track Yellow with the device around his ankle, though he felt bad he still didn’t get rid of it, starting to feel like a stalker or helicopter parent. He promised to himself to deactivate the device once they brought Blue back.  
The signal showed Yellow in the main area, so the boy headed this way, suppressing the probably millionth yawn that swelled up in his throat, making his eyes all watery and burning all over again. He hoped they wouldn’t make that big of a scene about it, he was too tired to deal with any more identity crisis’ and fights between his old and new friends.  
  
“Screw the sunshine, we can get our weapons and some food and just leave before _they_ show up!”  
Red grumbled, pacing around the room and Cody stopped in the entrance right at that moment. They didn’t notice him.  
“I don’t wanna hang with them either” Yellow added stubbornly, crossing his arms before his chest. He didn’t know how to feel about meeting Mikey again, and he didn’t want to think about it, because his stomach became all funny and if it wouldn’t be for the precious pizza they ordered hours ago, he would vomit because just seeing them made him sick.  
“There have been some changes in our DNA system and Blue might be in trouble. Perhaps it wouldn’t harm to hear them out” Dante seemed to be the only one willing to try and cooperate with Donatello and the others.  
“Well, you’re the only one curious about it and Blue ain’t their problem. Think they would help us after the glorious plan we pulled back then?! Have ya even listened to them? They’re only comin’ back because they wanna help the kid with his problems, not us!”  
“Cody’s life got ruined just because of us and they sure won’t just greet us with open arms. I don’t even get why he’s doing all that in the first place … but they think we’re the problems, so what’s the point in listening to them if they won’t do the same?” Yellow added.  
“We don’t owe them anything. Staying here was a mistake in general, whatever it is why Blue ain’t here no more, we would still be together doin’ our own thing. B’sides, we’re the bad guys, remember? We don’t side with them. Like, never” Red still insisted and looked about ready to leave any moment. His younger brother, however, didn’t seem like he was entirely on his side because he looked offended now.  
  
It was a subtle reminder for Yellow. He was the one who decided he would stay at the penthouse and live here, dragging his brothers into this mess. Sure, they were hungry and had to survive somehow and times were always rough, but it was just them and no laws or anything – besides Darius – that would change that. Change **them**. Making them question everything and listen to stupid morals or becoming weak with irritating feelings. So it was all his fault now? But HE got abandoned! He wanted to stay here and … he wanted to go to another party.  
  
“So is that it? We’re just going to quit?” Dante asked them, his tail flat on the ground as he dragged it along, walking over to his stubborn brothers. It wasn’t like he was attached to all the luxury and comfort in this place or how disgusting nice, clean and high tech everything looked around them. If that was what they wanted, he would go with them. It was always obvious they had different opinions.  
While Blue and Dante envied their originals and were mostly curious – at least he was, Red and Yellow were easily angered and wanted to have nothing in common with Raph and Mikey. He couldn’t blame them and maybe he was the one being wrong because he actually would like to talk to Donatello, despite his mixed and bitter feelings for the whole family thing and the bond their originals had that just was so much different and cause his chest to hurt unintentionally. Still, if they wanted to accomplish anything, the chance of succeeding was higher with _them_. And that was a fact. Even if not even Dante really liked that.

But Dante would follow them, if they truly wanted this. No matter if good or bad guys, he just cared for his brothers and wanted to be useful, for his life to have a meaning. Maybe exactly that made him a bad guy, but he didn’t care … Maybe he never actually cared before, now that he thought about it. After all, they had never thought really out of the box, just going with what they were told and created for. Doing stuff to get food, to keep going, to keep fighting but never actually reasoning it. Only since he got here, his logical and practical way of acting became more and more deep and he second questioned his behavior more and more. Not that his memories before they woke up in those containers were anything but blurry and could easily be just dreams, not even being his own.  
  
  
  
Yellow’s pouting disappeared and he averted his gaze. He was about to say something, because Red didn’t seem to have an answer himself either, but Cody interrupted their little discussion.  
“I can’t force you to stay. Not that I ever was able to, but if you want to go, I won’t stand in your way”  
He was probably too tired to hide his disappointment, when he approached them and sighed.  
“I never understood why you care so much anyway” Yellow mused, ready to turn around, but he was hesitating. Despite everything, he owed him. His life, the food, the bed and everything else. And all he ever did was causing trouble, breaking things, making a mess, wrecking his nerves, destroying furniture and clothing …  
No, the smart boy should’ve known what he had to expect when he invited him and his brothers to live with him in the penthouse. It wasn’t their fault, it was their nature! And if he couldn’t handle it, what was there for him to do? Besides, like shell he would stay and cooperate with the originals – with Michelangelo! They’d find Blue on their own. They didn’t need them! He didn’t need him! Bad enough he made friends with Cody, he didn’t even want to imagine the shit eating grin on his originals face when he saw that he was … right. No! No, he wasn’t right! None of them changed. Not even the slightest. Period.  
  
“I told you it was just the right thing to do but to be honest, I don’t know either. The first time we met I didn’t trust you but ever since Blue was here I … just refuse to believe all of that was supposed to be an evil plan. And Mikey was – Well, I just want to help you guys. And make right what my uncle Darius did wrong, what he did to you. And I know you can be more than that”  
“So you just pity us, because you feel guilty, is that it?” Red retorted. Cody clenched his fists, biting his lip.  
“Stop that guys, I thought we got over this!” Dante interfered annoyed before Cody could defend himself and tell them this still wasn’t true, no matter how many times they would claim that “Speaking of him, so what if Darius is behind all this? Wouldn’t it be smart to accept their help and make a truce?”  
“I dunno, you’re the smart one!” Red provoked his brother, cracking his knuckles.  
“I swear if you two are gonna start fighting right now, I’m leaving alone” Yellow threw his hands in the air in defeat.  
“You heard him, Red” Danny stated in a flat tone, crossing his arms.  
“Like shell! You’re the one siding with the enemy and even though Yellow hates them, ya still pining over your original! Maybe Fearless just left cus’ he got sick of everything, ever thought about that?!”  
“He would never leave and abandon us on his own!” Yellow pushed Red, angrily snarling at him. Dante put an arm on his shoulder to soothe him, but was neglected as well as the youngest elbowed him “You know what? You both suck eggs, I’m outta here!”  
  
Cody attempted to stop him, but his condition and with Yellows current mood he knew better than messing with this _situation_ right now, so he kept his distance. He was too sleepy to properly bother with yet another argument or fight, so he just massaged his temples and watched as Dante and Red eyed each other, until both started to blame the other whose fault it was now. It was kinda sad and strange at the same tame how they depended on each other. Without Blue, there truly was no one to guide or make decisions. They had no Master Splinter, no one else to turn to, so Cody guessed Blue was the closest they had as a parental figure, taking care of everything, keeping them in line, dealing with their temper and highly emotional personalities or simply lack of understanding. As grumpy and on edge the three brothers seemed, Cody started to get what really set them off. They were scared and unsure. Without the leader both Red and Dante may had the urge to be in charge now and care for the other two but with how different their point of view was, they would never come to a conclusion. And the one standing between them was Yellow, who already had his own inner demons he still tried to run from.  
  
Cody was surprised how his brain was still functioning to make sense of all of this – he probably already spent so much time with them to read between the lines, so these two weeks weren’t a complete waste. He should go after his friend. But if he left Red and Danny here now, they would just start to fight again, because of course instead of working together as a proper team they would just play the blame game. And most likely destroy everything around them.  
All the yelling and tension made him so … mad. He had no strength left to stay the calm and grown up one in this group. Not now.  
  
“For someone with a big brain you act incredibly dumb!”  
“Said the one who caused a ruckus last night, causing all of that trouble in general!”  
“It was never my idea ta go to that stupid party in the first place! And all ya did since then is upsetting Yellow, every time ya open your mouth!”  
Red pushed Danny, who hissed in return and did the same. It didn’t do much, because Red was heavier and stronger than him, but he was slow and easy to outsmart, so it was even.  
  
“Oh, please! Can’t we just stay sane and calm to get a solution **FOR ONCE**?!”  
  
Cody finally snapped and started to yell as well, his build up frustrations starting to openly show now. He usually never raged like this and stayed cool, but he was no exception of the famous ‘Jones temper’  
  
“I can’t believe you still prioritize fighting against each other instead of working together! Is it so hard to push your pride and stubbornness down, not even for the sake your brothers?! I have enough, I'm DONE!”  
  
Cody was the second to throw his hands in defeat and kept rambling how he just wanted to help and how he didn’t sign up for this. There were even a few swears included, Red was almost impressed if he weren’t already paralyzed by the boy’s tirade. Danny just stared unbelieving.  
  
“Is it so much to ask that you get along?! Or fucking listen to even a WORD I say?! I just can’t do everything all on my own and neither can you, if you don’t work together and … Ugh, goddamit!”  
  
He stopped when his head throbbed so much, the room started spinning.  
  
  
“Guess we came _just in time_ ” A familiar voice said and Cody turned his head so fast behind him, he thought it would fell right off, because damn he felt dizzy and sick all of a sudden.  
“Mikey! Guys!” Cody hadn’t noticed the arrival of them and never in his life had he been so glad to see their faces, though Splinter and Serling looked more than concerned. Then Cody started to realize “How … how long have you been here?”  
“Long enough to see your mental breakdown, kid” Raph answered, his brothers nodding in agreement.  
“Master Cody, you’re in an even worse condition than I assumed!” The robot exclaimed and Cody felt guilt rushing over him.  
  
“Heh … sorry … about that” Cody tried to excuse his outburst and smiled weakly before he lost his balance and gave in to the dizziness, his vision becoming black for a moment. He heard Serling calling out for him, a cane hitting the ground and various steps. Then he felt warm and furry hands – or paws – catching him before he hit the ground, holding him secure.  
“You have done well, my boy. You deserve a rest”  
  
Cody was tempted to agree with the soothing voice of master Splinter, but he couldn’t afford to rest. Not now. Not until he fixed all these problems. Not until he found Blue. Not until he settled things with him and his brothers. Not until he got his company – his family heritage – back. Not until he finally stopped his uncle Darius like he should have a long time ago. Not until he would manage to take care of everything and prove that he could be just as great without the help of his idols of the past. Someday he would have to anyway. He had to … He had to … He …  
  
… was so, so tired.


	23. A rough start

Cody felt relaxed. He recalled fighting the tiredness, but Splinter must’ve pressed a spot to calm his muscles and now he found himself in his cozy bed. Right now he was so lazy, even lifting his arms to stretch was too much effort and he allowed himself to enjoy this moment of silence …  
  
That was until he remembered why he was so stressed and exhausted in the first place. With hitching breath Cody sat up straight in his bed, looking around to notice not only it was so very quiet but he was also all alone and that probably meant either way Dante, Red and Yellow left or worse, the seven Turtles got into another fight again on the roof or something.  
  
He would rather stay in bed to relax a little more, but he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyways, worrying over his friends too much and not knowing what was going on was even more nerve wrecking than being too aware of the problems around here.   
Massaging his temples and brushing through his messy hair, Cody spotted a pile of clean and neatly folded clothes on his chair. It was something Serling used to do for him and … right, he was here again! He smiled, admiring the little and easily overlooked gesture of his lifelong friend he had taken for granted all these years before. Cody felt himself tearing up, noticing just how much he had missed things like this, not waking up completely alone in a big and empty penthouse. He had been isolated before, but he was never that alone like the past months. Well, except for the last two weeks.  
  
Man, he really developed such a crybaby attitude, he couldn’t even get a hold of himself right now, lamenting over his loneliness.   
“I should greet them. Properly, this time” He told himself, looking at his reflection in the mirror.  
  
  
  
  
“Seriously, you’d think for Turtles their size they wouldn’t just disappear completely!” Mikey complained, holding a bowl with chips in his hands and munching loudly on them while he crushed down on a torn couch his red banded brother was sitting on. They had investigated the whole penthouse and Dark Mikey was nowhere to be found while Donnie’s and Raph’s clones refused to tell them more than necessary. All they knew was that Leo’s clone was missing, the yellow one too now and that Cody had the cops on his tail. Well, one cop.   
“He’s _your_ clone, of course he would chicken out!” Raph commented, shoving his brothers feet away.   
“Hey! … Angelo’s not like that” Mikey stated, earning a confused gruff.  
“Angelo? Seriously?”  
“I’m not calling him Dark Mikey or Mike, that’s just weird” He shrugged, shoving another handful of chips in his mouth. Maybe he should make a list with several names and just picking the one the other hated the least. That was, if he even got the chance to do that and actually talk to him.  
“And where did that change of mind came from?” Raph raised a non-existent eyebrow but instead of answering, his little brother only started pouting and turned away, finally taking his feet off his lap.   
  
Even if Mikey wanted, he couldn’t just tell his brother about his little field trip and the encounter with his clone that happened … like, a long time ago when it was in fact only a couple of months in this timeline. Urgh, time travelling was so complicated! But he was still worried about his other self. After all, his Leo was missing and everyone seemed pretty on edge. He didn’t even know why he cared so much anyway. Maybe that was why other Mikey was so mad at him whenever he attempted to become his friend. Well, not that it happened multiple times. They had rarely encountered the Dark Turtles when they last visited. Still, it was HIMSELF, so he knew him practically an eternity, right?   
  
“Hello? Earth to Mikey?” Raph waved a hand in front of his face. If Mikey wouldn’t be so distracted with his thoughts, he would be wondering why his brother didn’t nudge or smack him instead. But since they got rid of every Shredder version for good, they relaxed more and had a sort of vacation after the wedding too, just cutting lose and chilling. At least he did that. It was really funny to see Leo and Donnie trying hard to do nothing and gloriously failing at that.   
“I’m getting another bowl, want some?” Mikey retorted instead, his bowl not even empty yet. And he wasn’t really hungry anymore either. He didn’t even wait for an answer and left the main room, almost walking into Cody on his way.   
  
  
“Hey, little roar machine! Finally awake?” He cheerfully greeted their friend, noticing the bowl in his hands and added “Sorry, we kinda already made ourselves at home, Serling’s running all over the penthouse to ‘ _make up for his absence_ ’ or something like that”   
“It’s fine. I actually missed this” Cody sheepishly fumbled with his sleeves. The nickname only reminded him of his outburst earlier. “And sorry for … what you had to see”   
“Well I’m glad you’re okay now. And I bet the other dudes are also a good company, once you get used to them”  
“They are! … It’s just really exhausting and I feel like a parent sometimes because they really don’t have the most basic social behavior and their alien nature is really something else. I was overestimating myself and thought I could do anything on my own. And then _this_ happened”   
  
Cody just followed Mikey to the kitchen, because he didn’t know where else he should go to first and, since he already talked to Mikey, he would just stick around. Besides, he found Mikey maybe couldn’t give the wisest kind of advice, but he admired how his Turtle friend just always seemed to know what someone needed and never ceased to surprise Cody with his ability to empathize. Yellow also had a similar ability, only he was sensitive and even more easily offended than his original.   
  
“So where do you think _other me_ ran off to?” Mikey asked out of the blue. He couldn’t even imagine what he would do if he was all alone in the big cold lair and then suddenly playing big brother himself. He was so used to not take responsibility and he liked that he could take things easy and that Donnie could dream because Leo was mature and responsible enough for all of them. Though he felt guilty because of it from time to time. It had been worse though … Since the foot clan was practically not existent at the moment and it was just peaceful, they had finally time to just be a family. And the orange clad Turtle was glad Leo started to act more like a big brother and teenager again than just a strict leader. It also affected his father, Donnie and Raph. Life was just … good.  
  
“He hasn’t shown up since then? But that was … hours ago?” Cody had no idea how long he slept, now that he thought about it. And he hadn’t seen Dante or Red yet, so they could all have left by now, looking for their brother. What time was it? Was it already dark outside?  
Mikey noticed his friends distress and put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Easy, dude. Serling said nobody left the penthouse since we got here” It didn’t really easy the situation because apparently his clone was gone before they showed up, but the other two were probably around somewhere.   
“And where is everyone? I need to apologize and hope Yellow is still here. Without Blue they are constantly fighting and he didn’t take all that well”   
“Yellow? That’s how we callin’ other me? So lame dude, I was all in for Angelo … or Steve” The prankster mused before getting back to the topic “I haven’t seen them since they left after Serling brought you to bed, they kinda ignored us and went into the elevator. Splinter and Leo are on the roof, Donnie’s doing researches about your situation and Raph and I were watching TV”  
“I see. I think I’ll head for Dante and Red then first, there’s only one place they would go to” Cody felt bad he had made all these decisions on his own and didn’t ask his friends first. Though he was right, it would only be polite to conclude them as a team, friends or family should do. Damn he felt like a hypocrite.   
  
“Dante and Red? Aw man, what a waste of opportunities! I’m so good at naming things. How about Ralph and Frankenstein?” Michelangelo had already forgotten about his bowl and simply accompanied Cody, oblivious to the fact that the Dark Turtles weren’t very fond of him or his brothers. But common sense wasn’t on the menu today so sue him for trying.   
“They’re a little sensitive about it and decided to call themselves that. But Yellow –“  
“- still doesn’t really like any of them? Yeah, figures. I wouldn’t be able to decide in his place either, if I had the chance. I mean, there are so many cool names dude! When I was little, I always wanted to have a cool name like Turbo, MC or something with a cool ring to it like Bruce Wayne, Bob Ross …”   
Mikey continued his list of names until they arrived at said floor, Cody only half listening and smiling slightly.   
“Wait, what would MC stand for anyway?” He found himself asking out loud, but Mikey couldn’t answer because as soon as he opened his mouth, a loud crash behind the door of Cody’s new roommates followed.   
  
  
Cody and Mikey exchanged a quick glance before they knocked, waiting for an answer but only getting animal like snarling and cursing in return.   
“Great, now he’s gone too and it’s all your fault!”   
“Nothing of this woulda happened if ya were on our side from the start! We could be already outside now, searching fer fearless!”   
“Why don’t we just say we should’ve never even come here in the first place?!”   
“That’s what I said the whole time but none of ya listened to me!”   
“Oh, so you do remember staying here was our little brother’s idea? Do you blame him for not going back to that bastard and Blue deciding to take the boy’s offer? Do you blame them too?! You don’t make any sense!”   
“I’m so done with ya blabbering and never doin anything! Ya weren’t even able ta find Yellow after Darius got rid of him!”   
There weren’t any more coherent sentences after that, just shoveling sounds, like they were rolling on the ground and grabbing each other’s throats.   
  
“Uhm … shouldn’t we, like, interfere?” Michelangelo looked worried, but only saw Cody sighing heavily and caressing through his hair. As if this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. And it wasn’t that abnormal if he thought about it. It only proved once again just how individual their clones were because he just couldn’t imagine his brothers Donnie and Raph fighting like that. Donnie was the least to be violent with one of them if not absolutely necessary and he was probably the only person Raph barely more than argued with.   
  
“Let’s just get in. We don’t have time to wait this out … Or perhaps you want to wait here?”   
“Well, I could go back and grab a bowl with some popcorn but nah, I’m staying here as backup” Mikey grinned and stepped back a little, hands behind his shell. He would like to get greet them, but lacking common sense wasn’t the same as having a death wish so he would keep a safe distance.   
  
  
Cody took a deep breath and entered, meeting the usual sight of Dante and Red clawing and growling at one another, neither backing down a little. Cody thought maybe Dante would be rational enough to not succumb to his alien nature, but he seemed pretty aggravated. Well, it was a sensitive topic to fight about. They didn’t even notice him.   
  
“Guys, have you seen Yellow?” Cody simply asked, certainly knowing they had no idea – not only because he eavesdropped. They immediately looked up at him. Cody was sure the worry for their brother’s well-being would make them overcome their dispute.   
“He’s really … not here?” Red huffed, barely able to breath with the tail of his genius brother wrapped around his neck.   
“That’s why I’m asking you guys! I was … not present, as you know. But since you have no idea either, he must’ve left”   
“Then what are we waiting for?! Lemme go!”   
“That isn’t possible, that was probably in a couple of minutes, how could he leave that fast and unseen? I was sure he went into one of his hideouts to pout!” Or maybe that was just what Dante tried to convince himself to believe. His tail’s grip tightened as he clenched his fists. He should have known. Should have done something. Why was he hiding in here, doing absolutely nothing?! Why goddammit?! It was so obvious his little brother would do something like that! … The sight of Donatello and his family just … made his stomach curl and he had wanted to get away from them as soon as possible. How ironic, because he was the one who had suggested to make a truce with them in the first place. Some kind of a genius he was!  
“Dante, I think you’re choking him!” Cody warned his friend, walking over to untangle them.   
  
  
  
  
“Mikey! What the shell is going on here?!”   
Said Turtle yelped as he heard his brother’s voice. Raph was coming out of the elevator, accompanied by his other siblings, Splinter and even Serling.   
“What is the meaning of this noise, my son?”   
“Hey, I swear it wasn’t me! … This time” Michelangelo answered right away, but in a quieter tone, glinting to his left where he could see Cody doing a kind of routine job as he talked to Dante, soothing him while Red shot a death glare in his direction. Something told Mikey a direct confrontation wasn’t what Cody had aimed for by asking for support. But it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway, so … yeah, no hard feelings.   
  
“Why did you bring them here?” Red grabbed Cody a little harsh at his shoulder to get his attention, pointing at Mikey.   
“ _They_ want to help us. That’s why they’re here” He kept his voice down, this time having more self-control than before.   
“You mean they want to help _you_ , not us! But that’s not what I meant … why are they _HERE_?” Red gestured around the room. Not that he really considered this place his home, but he was really territorial of their bedroom and they went in here for a reason.   
  
Mikey shyly waved at them, slowly side walking out of view.   
“I think they still need a minute” Mikey whispered, Red’s growl confirming that.   
“If the situation is that urgent, like Cody told us, we don’t have time for such fights. We need to make a plan. Together” Leo crossed his arms.   
“Hey don’t look at me like that, I’m not the problem! Why don’t you go into the crazy lion’s den and tell them that?” Mikey was still whispering, because the sudden silence was creeping him out a little. But then he felt something hot tickling his breath. “They’re standing right behind me now, aren’t they?”  
  
Red had indeed left the guest room, but Cody squeezed through him and Dante to stand between the two Turtle-families.   
“Master Cody, I can’t believe you were serious! It was very careless and dangerous to invite those monsters in our home! The last time one of them stayed here didn’t end well either, have you already forgotten about that?” Serling was both happy his master well and rested now but also still on high alert, seeing him with those monsters. He had seen all the destruction around the penthouse and the mess. It was even worse than that time Michelangelo got infected with that alien virus or when Leonardo’s clone had lived here. And Cody, alone with four of them all on his own? If he had organic hair, he would be bald by now, which he was anyway but his concern for the human he raised was just the same.  
  
“They’re not monsters!” Cody defended them, even if they didn’t need his opinion. Because no, Red would never give a shit about that Kid’s opinion. Still his expression softened at that.  
“Yeah, he’s right! Because to some humans, so are we. And you should know us better by now” Mikey quoted something Donnie had said long ago. He still remembered when they helped Sidney and the others for the first time and his brother had told him that. Which was true and he still felt guilty for judging them. They, and even Leatherhead were all the same, even if strangers might think different. That big alligator had more heart and brain than most stupid humans. And he firmly believed the same went for their clones as well, just like he did months ago when he had met Yellow that day. They just needed … a hella lot of patience.  
  
Donatello looked at him, his chest rising with pride and nodded in agreement, returning the smile his only younger brother gave him for a short moment, until they both looked at Serling expectantly. The robot sighed in defeat, throwing his hand in the air.   
“Fine, I apologize for my impoliteness. Still, I am only worried for your health Master Cody”  
“And I am glad to have you back, my friend. You have no idea how much I missed you. All of you!” The young redhead turned to Dante and Red “I know you guys don’t trust them. But if Yellow or Blue are in trouble, we need any help we can get”   
Red and Dante both averted their gaze. “… Just this one time. I want my brothers back, but that ain’t gonna make us not-enemies or something!”   
“I agree with him. Though I prefer the term temporary allies” Danny agreed.   
“You’re making it pretty hard for me not to want to punch you again”   
“You don’t have to, the urge to do so myself because of your bad articulation is already unbearable”   
  
Before they could do or say anything more, Cody interrupted “Oookay, then how about we go to the living room and have a normal, peaceful talk to find a solution?”  
Mikey leaned over to Donnie, whispering again.   
“Dude, this is gonna be so weird,” Donatello hummed in agreement “I bet Red’s gonna lose his cool first”  
There it was. The smack the seagreen Turtle had missed earlier.


End file.
